DEC;   3    1920 


o 


Division 


OTHER  BOOKS  BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 


THE    PRESENCE 

THE  PLACE  OF  PRAYER  IN  THE  CHRISTIAN 
RELIGION 

THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST 


What  Christian  Science 

Means  and  What  We 

Can  Learn  From  It 


By 

JAMES  M.  CAMPBELL 


DEC 


IPi 


'-Ml 


THE    ABINGDON    PRESS 

NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


Copyright,  1920,  by 
JAMES  M.  CAMPBELL 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

A  Foreword 7 

I.    A  New  Movement 9 

11.    A  Timely  Movement 11 

III.  A  Serious  Movement 16 

IV.  A  Spiritual  Movement  20 

V.    A  Mystical  Movement 23 

VI.  An  Idealistic  Movement 27 

'     Vll.  A  Movement  of  Mystery 30 

'    VIII.  A  Comprehensive  Movement 33 

IX.  A  Movement  of  Bodily  Healing  . .  36 

X.  Its  Reactions 56 

XI.  Its  One-Sidedness 60 

XII.  Its    Repression    of    Natural    In- 
stinct   64 

XIII.  Its  Self-Centered  Spirit 68 

XIV.  Its  Spirit  of  Exclusiveness 73 

XV.  Its  Closely  Knit  Organization  ...  76)  / 

XVI.     Its  Centralized  Authority 82^ 

XVII.     Its  Finality 87 

XVIII.     Its  Main  Assumption 93 

'     XIX.     Its  Philosophical  Basis 98 

XX.    Its  Abnormality 103 

XXI.     Its  Passivity 109 

XXII.    Its  Subjectivity 113 


6  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAG-E 

XXIII.  Its  Serenity 117 

XXIV.  Its  Revival  of  Interest  in  the 

Bible 122 

XXV.    Its  Shadowy  Christ 126 

'     XXVI.     Its  Use  OF  Personal  Testimony  . .    131 

XXVII.     Its  Theory  of  Prayer 137 

XXVIII.     Its  Solution  of  the  Problem  of 

Suffering 142 

XXIX.     Its  Serene  Optimism 146 

XXX.     Its  Ethical  Implications 150 

XXXI.     Its  Modifying   Influence   Upon 

the  Older  Faith 156 

XXXII.    Its  Bearing  Upon  the  Social  and 

Relig  ous  Life  of  the  Times  .  .    160 

XXXIII.  Its  Short  Cut  to  the  Millennium  164 

XXXIV.  Mrs.  Eddy  Herself 167 

XXXV.    What  of  the  Future  ? 177 


A  FOREWORD 

Those  who  read  this  volume  in  the  expec- 
tation of  finding  in  it  an  attack  upon 
Christian  Science  will  be  disappointed.  To 
all  that  is  good  in  Christian  Science  there  is 
given  ungrudging  recognition.  That  there 
is  much  to  be  said  in  its  favor  is  not  dis- 
puted, but  that  it  is  fashioned  after  the 
New  Testament  type  is  more  than  ques- 
tioned. The  attitude  maintained  toward  it 
is  that  of  one  who,  having  carefully  weighed 
the  utmost  it  has  to  say  in  behalf  of  its 
lofty  claims,  turns  alike  to  those  who  have 
found  in  it  a  resting-place,  and  to  those  who 
are  looking  wistfully  towards  it  for  physical 
and  spiritual  help,  saying,  "Yet  show  I 
unto  you  a  more  excellent  way." 


CHAPTER  I 

A  NEW  MOVEMENT 

In  any  endeavor  to  account  for  the 
remarkable  success  of  Christian  Science,  and 
to  understand  the  secret  of  its  power,  it  must 
be  looked  at  in  all  its  various  phases. 
And,  first  of  all,  due  consideration  has  to 
be  given  to  the  fact  that  it  is  a  new  move- 
ment. It  has  all  the  interest  of  novelty.  ♦^ 
It  falls  in  with  the  Athenian  spirit  of  the 
age  which  is  on  the  outlook  for  some  new 
excitement,  and  is  eagerly  seeking,  in  the 
sphere  of  religion,  as  everywhere  else,  for 
"something  newer  than  the  latest  news." 
A  vast  multitude  in  the  present  day  are 
running  after  "New  Thought" — which  they 
spell  with  capital  letters.  Very  few  are 
running  after  old  thought.  None  but  "old 
fogies"  are  assumed  any  longer  to  give  heed 
to  the  divine  injunction;  "Stand  ye  in  the 
ways,  and  see,  and  ask  for  the  old  paths, 
where  is  the  good  way,  and  walk  therein, 
and  ye  shall  find  rest  for  your  souls"  (Jer. 
6.  16).  But  to  despise  any  of  the  well- 
beaten  paths  along  which  past  generations 
have  walked  in  safety  is  not  wise. 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

And  yet  the  craving  for  the  new  is  legiti- 
mate and  natural.  Truth  is  ever  renewing 
itself;  it  is  ever  old,  yet  ever  new;  and  the 
Master  himself  has  said,  that  "every  scribe 
who  is  instructed  unto  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  like  unto  a  man  that  is  an  house- 
holder, who  bringeth  forth  out  of  his 
treasure  things  new  and  old"  (Matt.  13.  52). 
Christian  teachers,  as  a  rule,  have  failed  to 
give  suflficient  emphasis  to  the  new.  They 
have  contended  stoutly  for  "the  faith  once 
delivered  to  the  saints,"  but  have  not  kept 
their  minds  open  to  the  revelation  of  truth 
which  the  ever-speaking  Spirit  of  God  is  now 
giving  to  the  saints;  and  hence  they  have 
been  unable  to  preach  the  gospel  with  fresh- 
ness and  power.  In  a  full-rounded  evangel 
the  new  and  the  old  will  be  equally  balanced. 

The  novelty  of  Christian  Science  is  not, 
however,  sufficient  in  itself  to  account  for  its 
wonderful  success.  Other  claimants  for 
popular  favor  have  come  into  the  field  since 
it  began  its  meteoric  career,  and  have 
received  but  scant  recognition.  Other  rea- 
sons for  its  growth  will  be  brought  to  light 
as  we  proceed  in  our  investigation. 


10 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

CHAPTER  II 
A  TIMELY  MOVEMENT 

One  element  of  the  timeliness  of  Christian 
Science  consists  in  the  way  in  which  it  has 
related  itself  to  the  general  feminist  move-  ^ 
ment  of  the  present  day.  It  has  been  car- 
ried to  its  place  of  power  on  the  tide  of  the 
movement  for  the  enfranchisement  and 
elevation  of  women.  It  is  notable  how 
many  of  its  leaders  are  women,  how  very 
marked  is  its  spirit  of  femininity,  and  how 
largely  the  men  who  attach  themselves  to 
it  are  brought  in  by  their  women  friends. 

Within  the  past  seventy  years  three  new 
religions  have  been  established  by  women — 
Spiritism,  by  the  Fox  sisters ;  Theosophy ,  by 
Madam  Blavatsky;  and  Christian  Science, 
by  Mrs.  Eddy.  The  latter  is  far  and  away 
the  greatest  feminist  religious  movement, 
not  only  of  recent  time  but  of  all  time.  It 
certainly  has  been  born  in  due  season;  and 
has  not  only  given  needed  emphasis  to  some 
neglected  truths,  but  has  connected  itself, 
unconsciously  perhaps,  with  one  of  the  most 

11 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  IVIEANS 

important  developments  of  our  modern 
social  life. 

The  femininity  of  Christian  Science  is  at 
once  its  strength  and  its  weakness.  It 
undoubtedly  has  drawn  unto  itself  many 
strong  men,  but  its  distinguishing  qualities 
are  not  those  of  virility  and  robustness. 
It  is  a  religion  of  softness;  and  in  this 
respect  it  fits  into  the  mood  of  this  ease- 
loving  age.  It  seeks  to  cushion  life's  hard 
duties,  and  to  provide  an  escape  from  pain 
and  self-denial — and  that  is  a  palatable 
thing  to  unrenewed  human  nature. 

The  martial  spirit  is  utterly  foreign  to 
Christian  Science.  It  sounds  no  bugle 
call  to  battle.  When  others  hasten  to  the 
fray  its  followers  remain  in  camp,  staying 
by  the  stuff.  They  see  nothing  to  fight 
about.  Instead  of  resisting  evil  they  deny 
it;  instead  of  righting  wrongs  they  ignore 
them.  As  the  inevitable  consequence  of  their 
failure  to  take  their  part  in  the  great  struggle 
against  organized  evil  going  on  in  the  world, 
courage  and  heroism  are  not  called  into  exer- 
cise, and  what  strength  any  of  them  may 
originally  have  possessed  becomes  atrophied. 

Christianity,  as  the  New  Testament  de- 
12 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

picts  it,  is  a  manly  religion.  There  is  in  it 
something  that  answers  to  the  war  spirit. 
It  provides  a  moral  equivalent  for  war. 
The  Christian  is  a  fighter — a  good  soldier 
of  Jesus  Christ.  He  wrestles  against  alien 
forces  in  the  spiritual  realm  and  in  society. 
He  fights  the  good  fight  of  faith.  He  does  not 
live  in  a  padded  room  where  the  bitter  cry 
of  suffering  souls  cannot  reach  him,  but 
takes  his  place  in  the  hurly-burly  of  life 
amid  the  clash  of  contending  forces — a  true 
knight  errant  fighting  for  the  deliverance  of 
the  oppressed  and  the  distressed. 

A  womanly  religion  is  all  right  for  women, 
but  a  manly  religion  is  demanded  of  men. 
"Quit  ye  like  men,  be  strong,"  is  a  call  that 
has  ever  been  needed,  and  never  more  so 
than  now.  This  strenuous  age  demands 
manliness  in  religion;  it  demands  a  religion 
that  will  lead  in  reforms,  a  religion  that 
offers  a  man's  job,  a  muscular  religion  that 
deals  double  blows  against  every  form  of 
social  iniquity.  Christianity  combines  the 
graces.  It  is  an  amalgam  of  tenderness 
and  strength.  In  Christ  these  qualities 
were  united — he  had  the  tenderness  of  a 
woman  and  the  strength  of  a  man;  and  our 

13 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

religion  will  approximate  the  divine  ideal 
which  His  expressed  just  so  far  as  it  blends 
these  qualities  into  a  harmonious  whole. 

Yet  w^hen  all  has  been  said  regarding  the 
undue  proportions  of  the  feminine  in  Chris- 
tian Science,  it  must  be  admitted  that  it 
has  made  woman  its  debtor  by  according 
t  to  her  a  place  of  equality  in  the  services  of 
the  church.  It  was  a  necessity  at  first  that 
Christianity  should  be  a  man's  movement. 
All  of  the  twelve  apostles  were  men.  For 
Jesus  to  have  included  women  in  the 
apostolic  group  would  have  doomed  the  new 
movement  to  failure.  Society  in  his  day 
was  not  ready  for  such  a  radical  innovation. 
What  he  did  was  to  instill  into  the  minds  of 
his  followers  the  doctrine  of  sex  equality, 
with  the  result  that  when  it  was  accepted 
sex  discrimination  vanished  away.  The 
wisdom  of  this  method  is  seen  in  the  fact 
that  the  historians  of  that  day  were  struck 
with  the  place  of  leadership  accorded  to 
women  in  the  early  church.  From  that 
high  ideal  the  church  in  succeeding  ages 
sadly  fell;  and  the  feminist  movement  of 
to-day  is  very  largely  one  of  restoration  to 
the  original.     One  would  have  thought  it 

14 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

impossible  for  the  church  to  have  forgotten 
so  entirely  the  words  with  which  the  new 
age  were  ushered  in — *'It  shall  come  to 
pass  in  the  last  days,  saith  God,  I  will  pour 
out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh:  and  your  sons 
and  your  daughters  shall  prophesy"  (Acts 
2.  17).  They  were  to  prophesy,  not  in  the 
sense  of  foretelling  future  events,  but  in  the 
sense  of  forth-telling  Christ's  evangel.  Thus 
far  the  sons  have  supplanted  the  daughters 
in  that  work,  and  have  done  about  all  of  it. 
The  recent  world-war  has  broken  down 
many  of  the  barriers  of  sex  exclusiveness, 
and  has  thrust  women  into  man^^  places 
hitherto  occupied  entirely  by  '*mere  man." 
When  the  flood  tide  subsides,  and  things 
come  to  their  level,  and  the  work  of  social 
reconstruction  progresses,  women  will  have 
a  new  place  in  the  social  order,  and  for  the 
bringing  about  of  that  change  Christian 
Science  ought  to  be  accorded  its  due  meed 
of  credit,  not  only  because  of  the  stout 
defense  of  women's  rights  on  the  part  of  its 
founder,  but  also  because  it  has  had  the 
courage  to  put  into  practice  certain  ad- 
vanced ideas  touching  the  sphere  of  woman, 
which  were  struggling  for  expression. 

15 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 


CHAPTER  III 
A  SERIOUS  MOVEMENT 

Mark  Twain  wrote  a  book  about  Chris- 
tian Science,  in  his  usual  humorous  vein ;  but 
Mark  Twain  was  not  the  man  to  write 
upon  such  a  subject  understandingly.  He 
had  "nothing  to  draw  with,  and  the  well  is 
deep."  Christian  Science  is  not  a  thing  to 
be  laughed  out  of  court.  Its  devotees  take 
it  seriously — too  seriously  perhaps;  but  to 
them  it  is  more  than  a  philosophy;  it  is  a 
religion,  and  a  religion  is  a  serious  matter. 

It  would,  however,  relieve  many  a  difficult 
situation  if  a  little  wholesome  humor  could 
be  brought  into  play.  It  is  notorious  how 
deficient  the  rank  and  file  of  Christian 
Scientists  are  in  that  quality.  They  refuse 
to  smile  at  things  which  affect  the  risibility 
of  the  normal  man.  The  Christian  Science 
devotee  who  excused  her  daughter  from 
seeing  a  visitor  on  the  ground  that  she  was 
detained  in  her  room  by  a  belief  in  a  boil 
no  doubt  kept  a  sober  face,  but  she  was  a 
real  humorist  all  the  same.  What  a  deli- 
cious volume   might  be  written  upon  the 

16 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

unconscious  humor  of  Christian  Scientists! 
Think  of  the  kidicrous  attitude  of  one  who 
is  "in  Science,"  affirming  that  Christian 
Science  heals  disease,  and  with  the  same 
breath  affirming  that  there  is  no  disease  to 
heal !  And  think  of  the  unconscious  humor 
with  which  IMrs.  Eddy  jumbles  the  judg- 
ment in  connection  with  her  strange  meta- 
physics; as,  for  instance,  when  she  says 
"To  lose  your  sin  you  must  first  destroy  it" 
— which  is  tantamount  to  saying,  "To  lose 
the  sensation  of  pain  you  must  first  cut  off 
your  head."  Or  when  she  says,  "Science 
reveals  man  as  a  dream  at  all  times,  and 
never  as  the  real  being."  A  rather  sub- 
stantial dream  surely,  when  you  look  at 
him  from  his  bodily  or  from  his  spiritual 
side!  Or,  take  the  following,  the  humor 
of  which  lies  in  its  obvious  sincerity:  "If 
the  Science  of  Life  were  understood,  it  would 
be  found  that  the  senses  of  mind  are  never 
lost  and  that  matter  has  no  sensation. 
Then  the  human  limb  would  be  replaced,  as 
readily  as  the  lobster's  claw,  not  with  an 
artificial  limb,  but  with  a  genuine  one." 
Suffer  one  more  example  from  what  some 
one  has   irreverently  named    "that  divine 

17 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

comedy,  Science  and  Health."  "The  daily 
ablutions  of  an  infant  are  no  more  natural 
or  necessary  than  would  be  the  process 
of  taking  a  fish  out  of  the  water  every  day 
and  covering  it  with  dirt,  in  order  to  make 
it  thrive  more  vigorously  thereafter  in  its 
native  element.  Water  is  not  the  natural 
habit  of  humanity."  Is  not  this  a  delicious 
piece  of  humor?  No  need  to  wash  the 
baby !  His  body  is  an  expression  of  mortal 
mind,  and  his  native  element  is  dirt.  In 
the  water  he  is  as  much  out  of  his  native 
element  as  a  fish  would  be  in  the  air.  O 
for  the  saving  grace  of  a  sense  of  humor! 

But  we  have  no  disposition  to  dwell  upon 
this  weakness  in  Christian  Science.  Suffice 
it  to  say  that  the  absence  of  humor,  while 
a  grave  defect,  may  well  be  condoned  in 
those  who  in  a  shallow  and  frivolous  age 
have  the  courage  to  take  their  religion 
seriously;  and  who,  if  they  are  prone  to  fall 
into  the  mistake  of  making  their  religion 
something  apart  from  their  ordinary  life, 
are  not  more  guilty  in  this  respect  than  some 
other  types  of  religionists  whose  unconscious 
humor  may  take  on  a  very  different  form. 

And  such  is  the  tendency  of  all  of  us  to  be 
18 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

oblivious  to  our  own  little  foibles  and  infirm- 
ities that  there  is  reason  for  us  to  take  to 
heart  the  words  of  the  Scotch  poet  Robert 
Burns: 

"Oh  wad  some  power  the  giftie  gie  us 
To  see  oursel's  as  others  see  us! 
It  wad  frae  monie  a  blunder  free  us. 
And  foolish  notion.'* 


19 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

CHAPTER  IV 
A  SPIRITUAL  MOVEMENT 

Christian  Science  starts  from  God,  and 
seeks  to  magnify  him  in  the  thoughts  of 
men.  By  emphasizing  the  things  of  the 
spirit  it  has  rendered  incalculable  service 
to  spiritual  religion.  It  has  brought  sense- 
bound  souls  into  touch  with  the  Infinite; 
has  widened  their  horizon  by  bringing  into 
view  .  the  things  which  are  unseen  and 
eternal;  and  has  led  to  the  cultivation  of 
the  upward  look.  Coming  in  as  a  move- 
ment of  reaction  and  revolt,  it  has  raised  a 
much-needed  protest  against  materialism 
in  philosophy  and  life;  and  has  certainly 
helped  in  the  liberation  of  the  spirit  from 
the  tyranny  of  the  material.  Coming  at  a 
time  when  the  world  was  weary  of  religious 
ceremonies  and  doctrinal  contentions,  it  has 
also  supplied  a  needed  antidote  to  formalism 
in  religion.  By  directing  the  thought  of 
many  to  the  inner  and  invisible  things  of 
religion  it  has  introduced  them  to  a  new 
world  of  spiritual  values. 

But,  like  all  movements  of  reaction  and 
20 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

revolt,  it  has  swung  to  the  opposite  extreme. 
Frora  the  position  of  the  materiahst  that  . 
matter  is  all,  it  has  gone  to  the  extreme 
that  *'mind  is  all,  and  matter  is  naught"; 
and  from  the  position  of  the  religious  for- 
malist that  the  body  of  truth  is  all,  it  has 
gone  to  the  extreme  that  spirit  is  all,  and 
form  is  naught;  and  so  what  might  have 
been  a  wholesome  soul-movement,  practical 
as  well  as  spiritual,  has  evaporated  into 
thin  air. 

Man  is  spirit,  but  he  has  a  body  which  is 
very  much  in  evidence  and  quite  indispen- 
sable; and  when  either  part  of  his  dual  nature 
is  denied  or  ignored  direful  consequences 
follow.  A  man's  religion  also  has  a  body  - 
and  a  spirit,  and  consequences  no  less  direful 
follow  the  denying  or  ignoring  of  either. 
Christian  Science  presents  the  strange  spec- 
tacle of  a  professedly  Christian  Church 
setting  aside  the  Christian  ordinances  of 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper;  and  making 
no  provision  for  ordination  to  the  ministry, 
or  the  marriage  ceremony.  The  Master,^ 
knowing  that  man  needs  outward  forms  as 
a  vine  needs  a  trellis,  when  instituting  his 
phurch  ordained  these  ceremonies,  the  use^ 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

of  which  has  been  abundantly  justified  by 
their  usefulness,  and  to  dispense  with  them 
implies  an  unwarranted  assumption  of  lib- 
erty. They  have  their  place  and  their  use; 
for  if  the  body  without  the  spirit  is  dead, 
it  is  just  as  true  that  the  spirit  without  the 
body  is  impotent  to  the  attainment  of 
certain  practical  ends. 


22 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LE/VRN  FROM  IT 


CHAPTER  V 
A  MYSTICAL  MOVEMENT 

By  turning  the  eye  of  the  mind  from  the 
outside  to  the  inside  of  the  things  of  rehgion  ^ 
Christian  Science  has  rendered  an  incalcu- 
lable service.  But  in  doing  this  it  has 
unfortunately  ignored  the  mystical  teaching 
of  the  New  Testament  as  set  forth  espe- 
cially by  John  and  Paul,  and  to  its  own  great 
loss  has  developed  a  peculiar  brand  of  its 
own.  Nevertheless,  it  has  stood  for  the 
essential  thing  in  Christian  mysticism,  which 
is  the  immediacy  of  God,  the  direct  contact 
of  the  soul  with  him— a  truth  which  ortho- 
dox Christianity  has  often  completely  lost 
sight  of. 

The  recent  revival  of  interest  in  mysti- 
cism is  one  of  the  things  which  have  tended 
to  bring  reenforcement  to  Christian  Science. 
There  has  been  a  great  rebound  from  mere 
externahsm  in  religion,  and  from  crass., 
literalism  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. People  have  been  seeking  to  get 
beneath  the  crust  of  things,  and  have  been 
listening   wistfully   for   some   clearer   note 

23 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

touching  the  deep  things  of  God.  It  is 
pathetic  to  see  how  eagerly  they  follow 
anyone  who  professes  to  be  able  to  meet  this 
demand,  and  how  desperately  they  cling  to 
anything  that  offers  to  them  any  measure 
of  relief.  They  want  to  get  through  the 
^  bone  to  the  marrow,  through  the  shell  to 
the  kernel,  through  the  letter  to  the  spirit; 
they  want  to  find  first-hand  knowledge  of 
spiritual  things;  they  want  to  ascend  from 
the  stream  to  the  fountain,  and  find  their 
true  life  in  union  with  the  great  Author  of 
their  being. 

But  not  all  can  walk  in  the  mystic  way. 
The  bulk  of  people  are  non-mystical  in  their 
temperament.  They  follow  the  inductive 
rather  than  the  deductive  method  in  their 
search  after  spiritual  reality.  They  cannot 
begin  at  the  center  of  things  at  once,  but 
must  work  their  way  gradually  from  the 
circumference  to  the  center.  Religion 
makes  its  appeal  to  them  from  the  objective 
side.  They  need  the  objective  revelation 
in  which  the  great  truths  of  the  Christian 
religion  are  set  forth.  They  get  to  God 
through  the  medium  of  symbols;  but  as 
they  grow   in   the  Christian   life   they  de- 

24 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

pend  less  and  less  upon  external  things; 
and  from  touching  the  hem  of  God's  gar- 
ment they  may  come  at  length  to  look  upon 
his  face,  and  taste  the  joy  of  personal  com- 
munion. 

By  beginning  at  the  heart  of  things  rather 
than  at  the  rim,  and  by  overlooking  the 
fact  that  a  normal  Christian  life  is  marked 
by  progress  from  the  outward  to  the  spirit- 
ual, Christian  Science  unfits  itself  for  meet- 
ing the  needs  of  a  great  multitude  of  people. 
In  this  present  dual  state  of  existence  forms 
cannot  be  dispensed  with.  Truth  must  have  ^ 
a  body  to  clothe  its  soul.  Unless  it  be 
crystallized  into  some  concrete  form  re- 
ligious sentiment  is  apt  to  evaporate.  Insti-  "^ 
tutional  Christianity  is  the  complement  of 
spiritual  Christianity;  in  it  the  fruits  of 
Christianity  are  conserved,  and  by  it  they 
are  transmitted  to  the  future.  Yet  insti- 
tutional Christianity  is  apt  to  become  fossil- 
ized, and  the  use  of  set  forms  is  apt  to  tend 
to  formality.  Hence  the  reaction  of  Chris-j 
tian  Science  from  sterile  externalism,  ex- 
treme though  it  be,  is  not  to  be  deplored.  In 
the  past  the  church  has  made  altogether  too 
much   of   outward   forms   and   ceremonies, 

25 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

and  has  too  often  made  their  faithful  observ- 
ance the  main  test  of  piety.  They  have 
their  use  as  the  vessels  which  hold  the  wine 
of  truth,  but  they  may  become  empty  vessels 
which  have  ceased  to  supply  the  nourish- 
ment which  the  soul  of  man  needs.  They 
may  also  become  fetters  of  the  soul,  im- 
peding its  progress.  Deliverance  from  this 
grinding  bondage  to  form  is  to  be  sought 
after  by  the  Christians  of  to-day  with  as 
much  eagerness  as  that  displayed  by  the 
Jewish  converts  in  the  early  days  of  Chris- 
tianity in  their  desire  to  be  freed  from 
bondage  to  the  ceremonial  law.  To  many 
individuals  Christian  Science  has  brought 
a  sense  of  liberation;  from  others  it  has 
taken  away  a  needed  prop.  What  is  de- 
manded is  not  a  formless  religion  but  a 
religion  whose  forms  are  elastic  and  instinct 
with  life;  a  well-balanced  religion  in  which 
the  inward  and  the  outward,  the  mystical 
and  the  practical  elements  are  blended  into 
l^one.  A  lop-sided  religion  may  have  a  tem- 
porary success,  but  in  course  of  time  it  will 
be  weighed  in  the  balance  and  found  want- 
ing. 

26 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

CHAPTER  VI 

AN  IDEALISTIC  MOVEMENT 

Idealism  is  the  outward  expression  of  ^ 
mysticism.  Mysticism  is  rooted  in  the  con- 
viction that  there  is  something  more  than 
what  is  seen;  ideahsm  is  rooted  in  the  con- 
viction that  there  is  something  more  than 
has  yet  been  attained.  In  the  ideal  whichj 
it  holds  out  is  found  the  lure  of  Christian 
Science,  its  ideal  being  nothing  less  than  a 
complete  life — a  life  which  includes  the  re- 
demption of  the  body  as  well  as  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  soul — and  along  with  a  perfect 
individual  life  a  perfect  world  from  which 
the  last  shadow  of  evil  has  vanished.  But 
when  we  inquire  into  the  means  by  which 
that  ideal  is  to  be  realized,  instead  of  finding 
something  characterized  by  "the  simplicity 
that  is  in  Christ,"  we  are  offered  a  vague 
philosophy  which  is  hard  to  be  understood; 
and  the  path  which  we  hoped  might  lead 
us  into  the  palace  of  the  King  terminates 
in  a  blind  alley.  Many  people,  buoyed  up 
with  hope,  approach  Christian  Science  as 
a    thirsty    traveler    in    the    desert    might 

27 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

approach  a  well;  but  they  have  no  cord 
long  enough  to  reach  its  bottom;  and  so 
they  turn  back  to  the  old  open  fountain, 
full,  and  free,  and  overflowing,  at  which 
uncounted  millions  have  slaked  their  thirst. 

In  striking  contrast  with  the  idealism  of 
Christian  Science  is  that  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. There  we  have  not  only  the  vision 
of  something  beyond  glowingly  set  forth, 
but  also  a  clear  statement  as  to  how  that 
vision  is  to  become  a  reality.  The  ideal  of 
the  perfect  life  and  the  perfect  world  is 
constantly  held  up  as  the  object  of  human 
hope.  All  things  are  not  right,  but  they 
are  being  put  right;  and  the  ideally  perfect 
life  and  the  ideally  perfect  world,  as  they 
now  exist  in  the  divine  mind,  are  on  the  way 
to  realization.  At  present  there  is  a  duality, 
a  clash  of  contending  forces,  which  Chris- 
tian Science  ignores;  but  at  the  end  there  is 
complete  victory  for  the  right,  and  the 
harmonization  of  all  things  to  the  will  and 
purpose  of  God.  To  the  realization  of  the 
divine  ideal  the  church  is  giving  herself, 
undeterred  by  the  difficulties  in  the  way, 
being  well  assured  that  what  God  has 
willed  must  ultimately  come  to  pass. 

28 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

No  less  clear  is  the  New  Testament  way 
in  which  the  divine  ideal  is  to  be  actualized. 
The  way  is  Christ.  The  power  by  which 
humanity  is  to  be  made  every  whit  whole 
is  from  him.  By  him  all  things  are  to  be 
made  new.  By  him  all  things  are  to  be 
restored  to  the  divine  order.  His  gospel 
is  the  dynamic  of  God  unto  salvation.  In 
it  is  lodged  the  power  of  moral  omnipotence. 
To  bring  about  the  results  desired  the  gospel 
must  be  brought  into  vital  contact  with  the 
soul  of  man.  Here  certainly  is  nothing  hazy, 
but  a  well-defined  program;  no  shutting  of 
the  eyes  to  the  ugly  facts  of  the  present,  but 
an  unshaken  confidence  in  the  adequacy  of 
the  gospel  to  regenerate  humanity,  and  by 
creating  a  perfect  individual  and  a  perfect 
society  bring  about  the  final  goal  for  which 
God  and  all  good  men  are  working. 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 


CHAPTER  VII 
A  MOVEMENT  OF  MYSTERY 

Christian  Science  appeals  to  the  ele- 
ment of  mystery  in  human  nature,  and 
flatters  the  intellectual  vanity  of  its  votaries 
by  leading  them  to  believe  that  they  are  in 
possession  of  some  occult  knowledge  which 
is  hid  from  ordinary  mortals.  Many  go 
into  it  blindly,  frankly  confessing  that  they 
cannot  sound  its  depths  profound,  and 
hold  to  it  not  because  they  understand  it, 
but  because  of  the  help  they  have  derived 
from  it.  And  so  far  as  anyone  who  is  not 
"in  Science"  is  concerned,  he  is  at  once  told 
that  his  most  thorough  knowledge  of  ordi- 
nary thought-forms  will  avail  him  nothing 
in  seeking  to  solve  the  mysteries  of  Science 
and  Health  and  other  writings  of  the 
founder  of  Christian  Science. 

Evidently  Mrs.  Eddy  did  not  try  to 
bring  her  system  of  thought  down  to  the 
level  of  the  simple  and  unlearned.  If  she 
did,  she  has  woefully  failed.  She  uses  words 
in  a  new  fantastic  sense  which  only  the 

30 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

initiated  are  assumed  to  understand.  You 
try  to  keep  her  thought  in  sight,  when  all 
at  once,  after  the  manner  of  the  cuttlefish 
eluding  its  pursuer,  she  leaves  you  staring 
into  a  cloud  of  verbiage.  But  take  her 
high-sounding  phrases,  strip  them  of  their 
mystery,  and  let  their  meaning  stand  out 
in  all  their  unadorned  nakedness,  their  spell 
is  broken,  and  they  fail  to  win  assent. 

How  different  from  this  cloud-bank  of 
mystery  are  the  divine  simplicities  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ!  So  plain  has  the  path  of 
faith  and  duty  been  made  that  "the  way- 
faring men,  though  fools,  shall  not  err 
therein."  Christianity  has  not  a  shred  of 
the  esoteric  and  the  occult.  All  its  followers 
are  initiates,  and  all  its  mysteries  are  open. 
"Behold  I  show  you  a  mystery,"  said  Paul 
when  referring  to  the  resurrection;  and  it  is 
the  same  with  other  mysteries.  They  are 
revealed  mysteries.  The  veil  was  left  on 
the  face  of  Isis;  every  veil  is  done  away  in 
Christ.  There  is  nothing  given  to  one  that 
is  withheld  from  another.  There  is  no 
monopoly  in  the  possession  of  truth.  There 
are  no  esoteric  saints.  There  are  none  who 
possess  light  which  is  not  equally  available 

31 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

to  all.  Of  Christ's  true  followers  it  is  said: 
*'Ye  are  all  the  children  of  light,  and  the 
children  of  the  day :  we  are  not  of  the  night, 
nor  of  darkness"  (1  Thess.  5.  5). 

The  attitude  of  the  leaders  of  Christian 
Science  toward  truth  reminds  one  of  the 
philosopher  Hegel,  who  is  reported  to  have 
said,  "Only  one  man  understood  me;  and 
he  didn't."  When  a  philosophical  substi- 
tute is  offered  for  the  simple  gospel,  nothing 
but  haziness  is  to  be  expected.  We  are  not 
all  philosophers  and  metaphysicians.  Some 
of  us  are  little  children,  to  whom  the  bread 
of  truth  has  to  be  broken  small.  We  are 
to  begin  with  ''the  first  principles  of  Christ," 
and  from  there  go  on  unto  perfection. 
And  above  all  we  need  the  child's  meekness 
and  docility.  Stripped  of  all  pride  of 
intellect,  as  well  as  of  all  sense  of  personal 
merit,  we  are  to  pass  into  the  temple  of 
truth  by  the  lowly  gate  of  humility;  rejoicing 
that  the  Master  has  said,  "I  thank  thee, 
O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  be- 
cause thou  didst  hide  these  things  from 
the  wise  and  understanding,  and  didst  reveal 
them  unto  babes;  yea.  Father,  for  it  was  well 
pleasing  in  thy  sight"  (Matt.  11.  25,  26). 

32 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 


CHAPTER  VIII 

A  COMPREHENSIVE  MOVEMENT 

It  proclaims  a  whole  gospel  for  the  whole  ^ 
man.  To  do  this  it  has  widened  its  concep- 
tion of  religion,  so  as  to  make  it  include  "the 
redemption  of  the  body."  In  that  it  is  in 
harmony  with  the  modern  trend  of  thought. 
Utterly  perverting  the  Christian  ideal,  the 
church  has  often  shown  but  scant  respect 
for  the  body— the  temple  of  God's  indwell- 
ing. It  has  not  only  sacrificed  its  interests, 
but  has  subjected  it  to  the  greatest  indig- 
nity and  abuse.  That  false  attitude,  which 
reached  its  height  in  the  Middle  Ages,  hap- 
pily has  passed  almost  entirely  away;  and 
now  instead  of  subjecting  the  body  to  cruel 
austerities  we  are  in  danger  of  pampering 
it,  and  giving  to  its  care  and  culture  more 
than  its  due  share  of  attention. 

Caught  in  the  current  of  this  modern 
tendency  Christian  Science  has  been  carried 
far.  It  has  given  special  emphasis  to  man's 
physical  needs  and  comfort.  It  has  sought 
to  keep  the  spirit  on  the  top  without  keeping 

33 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

the  body  under;  it  has  sought  to  gain  the 
whole  world  without  losing  its  soul;  it  has 
given  the  primacy  to  physical  interests  in 
its  quest  after  the  highest  good.  As  a  rule 
those  who  turn  to  Christian  Science  seek 
^  first  the  welfare  of  the  body,  and  after  that 
the  welfare  of  the  soul;  they  seek  bodily 
health,  and  after  that  soul-health;  and  when 
they  evoke  spiritual  power  it  is  generally 
that  it  may  minister  to  their  physical  wel- 
fare. In  a  word,  they  reverse  the  divine 
order  laid  down  in  the  Master's  words, 
"Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  his 
righteousness;  and  all  these  things  shall 
be  added  unto  you." 

It  is  sometimes  affirmed  that  Christian 
Science  is  a  return  to  primitive  Christianity 
in  that  it  has  restored  the  practice  of  the 
healing  of  disease  to  the  place  which  it 
occupies  in  the  New  Testament.  But  the 
New  Testament  Christians  were  no  health 
faddists.  They  did  not  make  health  of  the 
body  the  summum  honum  of  human  quest. 
V  They  looked  upon  the  physical  as  existing 
for  the  spiritual  and  not  the  spiritual  for  the 
physical.  They  did  not  slight  physical 
well-being,  but  they  gave  to  it  a  secondary 

34 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

place.  The  welfare  of  the  soul  was  their 
supreme  concern.  While  proclaiming  a  gos- 
pel for  the  whole  man,  they  put  the  em- 
phasis where  the  Master  put  it.  Like  him, 
they  fed  the  hungry  and  healed  the  sick; 
but  their  main  mission  was  to  feed  those 
who  were  hungry  of  heart  with  the  bread 
of  truth,  and  heal  those  who  were  sick  of 
soul  by  invoking  the  power  of  Christ.  Like 
him  too,  they  made  the  healing  of  the  body 
a  means  to  an  end. 


35 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 


CHAPTER  IX 

A  MOVEMENT  OF  BODILY 
HEALING 

This  is  the  chief  ground  of  its  popularity. 
It  began  as  a  healing  movement;  it  has 
grown  as  a  healing  movement.  By  the 
door  of  bodily  healing  most  of  its  votaries 
enter.  It  is  asserted  that  practically  all 
of  its  adherents  have  been  cured  of  some 
malady,  and  that  frequently  after  other 
methods  of  cure  had  proved  futile.  But 
that  is  perhaps  too  sweeping.  In  many 
instances  some  member  of  a  family  is 
healed  by  the  agency  of  Christian  Science, 
and  the  whole  household  is  won  over.  In 
either  case  a  definite,  substantial  benefit, 
which  cannot  be  reasoned  away,  has  been 
received;  and  so  the  beneficiaries  "go  into 
Science"  to  find  out  all  about  it,  and  to 
receive  further  benefits.  Take  away  from 
Christian  Science  its  healing  ministry,  and 
reduce  it  to  a  mere  metaphysical  system,  and 
it  would  melt  away  like  a  snow  bank  in 
spring. 

36 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

That  Christian  Science  performs  many 
well-authenticated  cures  is  not  to  be  gain- 
said. Dr.  Richard  C.  Cabot,  who  has 
given  the  matter  careful  investigation,  while 
admitting  that  many  reputed  Christian 
Science  cures  "are  probably  genuine," 
affirms  that  they  are  not  cures  of  organic 
disease,  such  as  cancer  or  consumption.  On 
the  other  hand,  Christian  Scientists  claim 
that  they  have  a  volume  of  testimony  to 
show  that  by  their  agency  all  sorts  of  physi- 
cal maladies  have  been  cured.  In  the 
present  stage  of  inquiry  nothing  is  more 
imperatively  demanded  than  a  thoroughly 
scientific  investigation  of  alleged  cures,  by 
competent  and  representative  experts,  who 
shall  carefully  winnow  the  chaff  from  the 
wheat,  and  without  fear  or  favor  set  down 
the  facts  as  they  find  them. 

Meanwhile,  after  every  deduction  has 
been  made  on  the  ground  of  faulty  diagnosis, 
the  self-limitation  of  certain  diseases,  and 
the  imaginary  nature  of  others,  thereby, 
according  to  some  authorities,  reducing  the 
cures  fifty  per  cent,  there  still  remains  a 
vast  multitude  of  cases  upon  whose  validity 
there  rests  not  the  shadow  of  a  doubt.     But 

37 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

while  we  hear  much  of  its  successes,  its  fail- 
ures are  carefully  concealed.  If  there  were 
no  failures,  there  would  be  no  deaths;  but  all 
Christian  Scientists  sooner  or  later  have 
diseases  which  cannot  be  removed,  and  they 
die  just  like  other  people. 

Christian  Science  claims  not  only  to  heal 
the  sick  without  the  use  of  drugs  but  without 
the  use  of  means  of  any  kind,  depending 
for  its  results  solely  upon  "the  operation  of 
divine  Principle."  The  facetious  descrip- 
tion of  it  as  ''a  way  of  getting  cured  of 
things  by  believing  something  that  isn't 
true,"  is  correct,  but  that  does  not  alto- 
gether explain  it.  Its  real  power  lies  in  a 
belief  in  a  direct,  spiritual  Principle  operat- 
ing for  health,  to  which  every  man  can  ally 
himself,  and  have  it  work  for  his  benefit. 
We  smile  when  reading  the  naive  testimony, 
in  a  current  number  of  the  Christian  Science 
Journal,  of  a  young  woman  who  declares, 
"I  was  cured  of  a  cold  through  the  realiza- 
tion of  the  omnipotence  of  love."  Probably 
she  was;  but  she  could  have  been  cured  just 
as  effectively  by  the  use  of  some  simple 
material  remedy.  And  this  is  the  trouble 
with  Chi'istian  Science.     It  plays  upon  one 

38 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

string.  It  does  not  take  the  complex  nature 
of  disease  into  account,  and  hence  does 
not  make  a  study  of  each  particular  case 
and  select  the  means  best  fitted  to  effect 
a  cure.  In  this  it  is  utterly  unscientific. 
A  comprehensive  view  of  the  matter  shows 
that  disease  can  be  traced  to  three  distinct 
sources. 

1.  Physical.  This  class  of  diseases 
Christian  Science  repudiates,  but  they  exist 
all  the  same.  Disease  often  comes  from  the 
violation  of  a  physical  law;  from  unsanitary 
conditions,  from  excess  in  eating  and  drink- 
ing, from  lack  of  exercise,  from  faulty 
breathing,  from  sexual  indulgence,  from 
accident  or  contagion.  When  it  is  physical 
it  can  be  cured  by  physical  means.  There 
is  a  power  in  nature  working  for  health 
which  will  always  respond  to  any  treatment 
that  deals  with  the  causes  of  the  disease. 
Nature  has  provided  a  remedy  for  every 
ailment,  and  to  slight  her  kindly  aid  is  to 
court  disaster.  What  tragedies  have  taken 
place  because  of  the  discarding  by  Christian 
Science  of  well  accredited  remedies,  or  by 
the  refusal  to  submit  to  a  needed  surgical 
operation!     Many  a  precious  life  has  been 

39 


WIL\T  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

snuffed  out  that  might  have  been  saved  if 
the  service  of  a  competent  physician  had 
been  called  for  in  time.  The  healing  art 
always  has  been  practiced.  Like  every 
practical  science,  it  has  been  largely  experi- 
mental; but  it  has  been  progressive  also. 
y  It  never  could  have  existed  through  the 
centuries  if  its  benefits  had  not  greatly  out- 
weighed its  mistakes  and  failures.  The 
faith  of  the  world  in  the  value  of  materia 
medica  is  not  without  foundation;  and  we 
may  be  sure  that  while  other  systems  of 
cure  come  and  go,  nature's  own  remedies 
never  will  be  altogether  discarded. 

With  regard  to  one  thing  at  least  Mrs. 
Eddy  is  wisely  inconsistent  with  her  let- 
alone-policy.  In  the  case  of  an  accident 
she  advises,  "It  is  better  to  leave  the  adjust- 
ment of  broken  bones  and  dislocations  to 
the  fingers  of  a  surgeon."  This  is  sensible 
advice,  for  when  a  limb  is  broken  it  does 
not  matter  what  healing  forces  are  at  work, 
they  count  for  nothing  without  the  aid  of  a 
bone-setter.  God  waits  for  our  cooper- 
eration,  and  when  we  do  our  part  he  does 
the  rest.  *T  closed  the  wound,  and  God 
healed  it,"  said  a  celebrated  physician.     In 

40 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

this,  as  in  everything  else  pertaining  to 
human  betterment,  God  and  man  must 
work  together. 

That  disease  is  not  merely  "an  error  of 
the  mortal  mind,"  but  that  it  often  has  its 
roots  in  a  physical  cause  is  too  evident  to 
be  reasonably  denied.  A  Christian  Science 
teacher  said  to  a  friend  who  was  suffering 
from  an  attack  of  la  grippe,  at  a  time  when 
that  disease  was  sweeping  over  the  com- 
munity in  a  wave  of  contagion,  "You  have 
something  that  does  not  belong  to  you; 
refuse  to  accept  it;  what  you  are  looking 
upon  as  a  microbe  is  only  a  microbe  of  error 
in  the  mind."  Shortly  afterwards,  when 
she  herself  was  laid  hors  de  combat  by  the 
same  disease,  her  friend  reminded  her  of  the 
advice  she  had  given.  Fortunately  her 
sense  of  humor  came  to  the  rescue,  and  she 
replied,  "Yes,  I  have  something  that  does 
not  belong  to  me,  and  I  am  trying  my  best 
to  get  rid  of  it."  Anyone  who  does  not 
make  use  of  the  remedies  placed  within  his 
reach  is  casting  a  slight  upon  the  means 
which  the  heavenly  Father  has  provided 
for  the  help  and  comfort  of  his  children. 

Anyone  not  "in  Science"  will  not  fail  to 
41 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

admire  the  great  good  sense  of  the  Christian 
Science  girl,  who,  when  her  mother  said, 
"Don't  you  know,  dear,  that  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  a  headache?  You  haven't 
any  headache;  it  is  merely  a  delusion." 
She  replied,  "I  know  it,  but  the  delusion  is 
so  strong  upon  me  that  I've  just  got  to  take 
something  for  its  removal." 

2.  Mental.  The  popular  conception  of 
Christian  Science  is  that  it  is  founded  upon 
the  universally  recognized  principle  of  the 
influence  of  the  mind  over  the  body.  What 
Christian  Scientists  themselves  would  say  is 
that  it  derives  its  healing  power  from  the 
direct  action  of  God  upon  the  soul,  and 
through  the  soul  upon  the  body.  What  we 
contend  for  is  that  the  secret  of  its  power 
is  found  in  its  unconscious  dependence  upon 
the  working  of  the  law  of  suggestion. 

Perhaps  nowhere  is  its  fundamental  prin- 
ciple set  forth  with  greater  clearness  than 
in  the  following  words  of  its  founder:  *'Evil 
is  not;  sin,  sickness,  and  death  are  nothing 
but  a  belief  in  an  illusion.  Dispel  the  belief 
in  sickness  and  cast  out  the  illusion  of  mat- 
ter, and  you  heal  the  disease."  Here  you 
have  Christian  Science  in  a  nutshell.     No- 

42 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

tice  how  everything  is  staked  upon  the 
suggestion  that  what  is  denied  will  dis- 
appear; that,  in  other  words,  the  sickness 
which  was  in  itself  a  myth,  when  called  a 
myth,  will  become  a  myth  to  you.  That  ^ 
certainly  is  plain  enough.  The  only  trouble 
lies  in  getting  the  mortal  mind  to  accept  a 
suggestion  that  runs  counter  to  experience. 
The  part  which  suggestion  plays  in  the 
curing  of  disease  will  become  more  apparent 
when  we  compare  the  modus  operandi  of  a 
mental  healer  with  that  of  a  Christian 
Science  healer.  What  takes  place  when  a 
mental  healer  gives  a  treatment  is  well  set 
forth  in  the  following  description  given  in 
The  New  Philosophy  of  Health,  by  H.  B. 
Bradbury:  "The  healer  simply  holds  in  his 
mind  with  great  tenacity,  for  perhaps  ten 
or  fifteen  minutes,  an  image  of  the  patient  as 
he  should  be.  This  image,  by  the  power 
known  as  'thought  transference,'  is  im- 
pressed upon  the  sick  man's  mind  as  a 
possibility,  when,  his  own  strong  desire 
seizing  it,  it  is  able  to  reproduce  it  as  an 
actuality.  He  may  be  quite  unconscious 
that  he  has  done  anything  for  himself,  and 
when  he   finds   himself   well,  give  all   the 

43 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

credit  to  the  man  who  he  thinks  healed 
him.  Yet  the  change  is  wrought  by  no  man, 
but  by  the  quiet  Hfe-giving  force,  which  two 
wills  working  in  harmony  have  brought  into 
action."  That  explanation  would,  however, 
hardly  satisfy  Christian  Scientists.  For  the 
interplay  of  two  human  minds  it  would 
substitute  the  direct  action  of  the  Divine 
Mind  as  the  power  by  which  the  cure  was 
wrought. 

As  a  description  of  the  Christian  Science 
method  of  treatment  take  the  following: 
*'Let  us  suppose  ourselves  seekers  for  health. 
We  go  with  a  cold  in  the  head  to  a  Christian 
Science  practitioner.  She  may  at  first  deny 
that  matter  can  be  afflicted  and  be  in  need 
of  a  handkerchief,  since  it  has  no  existence. 
The  metaphysics  on  which  this  statement 
is  based  may  offend  us,  but  the  strong  posi- 
tive assurance  given  with  all  the  force  of  an 
enthusiast,  or  a  political  stump  speaker,  has 
an  effect,  the  extent  of  which  depends  upon 
our  receptivity.  At  any  rate,  it  is  a  more 
wholesome  suggestion  than  that  of  our 
friends — 'What  a  cold  you  have!'  *How 
long  have  you  had  it.^'  'Everybody  is 
having  them  now — our  doctor  says,'  etc. 

44 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

Our  cold  will  not  be  the  better  for  such 
condolence    as    this.     After    having    heard 
that  we  have  neither  a  cold,  nor  a  head  to 
have  it  in,  we  are  told  by  the  Christian 
Science  healer  that  we  are  in  glorious  per- 
fect health;  that  God  cannot  make  any- 
thing that  is  not  perfect,  etc.;  and  unless 
we    resist    the    metaphysical    implications 
back  of  these  statements  they  may  do  us 
much    good"    (Edith    Armstrong   Talbot). 
What  is  this  but  suggestion  pure  and  simple? 
And  even  if  its  metaphysical  implications 
cannot  be  accepted,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  it  is  suggestion  pointing  in  the  right 
direction.     It    puts    the    emphasis    upon 
health  rather  than  disease;  and  in  this  lies^ 
the  main  source  of  its  power.     Finley  P. 
Dunne  makes  Mr.  Dooley  say,  "If  the  doc- 
tors knew  less  about  pisen,  and  more  about 
gruel,  and  opened  fewer  patients  and  more 
windows,    there    would    not    be    so    many 
Christian  Scientists,"   and  he  adds,  "The 
difference  between  Christian  Scientists  and 
doctors  is  that  Christian  Scientists  think 
there's   no  such  thing  as  disease,  and  the 
doctors  think  there  ain't  anything  else."j 
In  turning  away  the  thought  of  the  sick 

45 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

from  their  little  aches  and  ailments,  and 
fixing  it  upon  health,  Christian  Science  is 
doing  more  than  words  can  tell  to  confer 
physical  benefit  upon  its  followers. 

As  we  pursue  our  study  of  the  comparison 
between  Christian  Science  and  similar 
healing  cults,  we  find  that  they  all  have  the 
same  well-authenticated  evidence  of  power 
to  heal;  and  what  is  more,  they  have  the 
greatest  success  in  the  same  class  of  cases. 
Similarity  of  results  indicates  similarity  in 
the  kind  of  power  that  is  exercised.  Other 
cults  frankly  trace  their  healing  power  to 
the  operation  of  the  law  of  suggestion.  Not 
so  Christian  Science;  and  that  is  certainly 
its  point  of  greatest  weakness.  If  Christian 
Science  could  only  see  it,  suggestion  is  one 
of  the  great  laws  by  which  God  works. 
Instead  of  ruling  him  out,  it  merely  explains 
the  mode  of  his  action. 

The  re-creative  power  of  suggestion  is  well- 
nigh  measureless.  A  new  suggestion  ac- 
cepted and  acted  upon  may  revolutionize 
•^  a  life.  "Every  thought,"  says  Emerson, 
*' thrown  into  the  world  alters  the  world"; 
and  every  thought  thrown  into  the  soul 
alters  the   soul;   and   whatever  alters   the 

46 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

soul  alters  the  whole  man.  "Change  your 
thoughts"  is  a  favorite  formula  with  Chris- 
tian Scientists,  and  it  is  a  sensible  one. 
Upon  it  the  whole  system  of  psychotherapy 
is  based.  When  the  body  is  sick  the  trouble 
is  often  in  the  mind.  So  much  is  this  the 
case  that  it  is  affirmed  by  medical  experts 
that  two  fifths  of  the  diseases  of  the  present 
generation  are  caused  by  morbid  mental 
and  spiritual  conditions.  What  is  needed 
in  theses  cases  is  the  services  of  a  mental 
healer  who  can  "minister  to  a  mind  dis- 
eased," by  turning  the  thought  away 
from  things  that  poison  to  things  that  make 
for  health.  So  powerful  is  the  law  of 
suggestion  that  a  patient  may  be  relieved 
of  pain  by  an  injection  of  warm  water  into 
the  arm  with  a  hypodermic  syringe,  under 
the  belief  that  he  is  taking  morphine.  In 
such  a  case  it  is  the  suggestion  lodged  in  the 
mind  that  does  the  trick. 

The  brazen  serpent  which  Moses  erected 
in  the  camp  in  the  wilderness,  when  the 
people  were  bitten  by  the  fiery  flying  ser- 
pents, affords  a  striking  illustration  of  the 
working  of  the  law  of  suggestion.  In  itself 
that  piece  of  brass  gleaming  upon  a  pole 

47 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANB 

possessed  no  healing  virtue  whatsoever. 
It  was  the  suggestion  that  it  was  the 
divinely  appointed  means  of  conveying 
healing  power  that  made  it  effective.  It 
worked  precisely  in  the  same  way  as  a 
talisman  or  charm  which  derives  its  power 
solely  from  the  suggestion  which  it  creates 
in  the  mind  of  its  possessor.  In  after  years 
when  Hezekiah  came  to  the  throne  one  of 
his  first  acts  as  a  reformer  was  to  ''break 
in  pieces  the  brazen  serpent  that  Moses 
had  made;  for  unto  those  days  the  children 
of  [Israel  did  burn  incense  to  it;  and  he 
called  it  Nehushtan" — "a  piece  of  brass" 
(2  Kings  18.  4).  That  is  what  it  was  before 
and  after  the  purpose  of  Jehovah  had  been 
served  by  it,  and  his  life-giving  power  had 
worked  through  it. 

So  it  is  with  the  miracles  of  healing  effected 
by  the  relics  of  saints.  Many  of  them  are 
undoubtedly  genuine.  But  they  prove  noth- 
ing as  to  the  inherent  virtue  of  the  moldy 
bones  of  dead  saints;  nor  did  the  healing  of 
king's  evil,  or  scrofula,  by  the  king's  touch 
prove  'that  kings  possessed  divine  preroga- 
tives. It  was  simply  an  evidence  of  the  power 
of  an  egregious  fake  then  sincerely  believed 

48 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

in.  *'The  problem  of  suggestive  therapeutics, 
and  the  element  of  cure,  is  not,"  as  Dr. 
Sadler  has  said,  *'the  correctness  of  either 
their  physiological  or  theological  teaching, 
but  rather  the  intensity  and  sincerity  of 
the  faith  which  the  sick  one  exercises 
respecting  the  idea  upon  which  he  depends 
for  healing."  Hence  the  folly  of  positing 
the  truth  of  Christian  Science  upon  the 
validity  of  its  cures.  All  other  philoso- 
phies and  theologies  that  appeal  to  thera- 
peutic suggestion  can  do  the  same.  The 
principle  which  all  alike  illustrate  is  that 
contained  in  the  Master's  words,  "Accord- 
ing to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you,"  the  inten- 
sity and  tenacity  of  our  faith  being  the 
measure  of  its  healing  power.  It  is  the 
sine  qua  non  in  the  healing  of  the  body,  as 
well  as  in  the  saving  of  the  soul. 

When  we  come  to  consider  the  everyday 
contact  of  man  with  man  we  see  the  working 
of  the  same  law.  A  war  correspondent,  in 
a  current  newspaper,  speaking  of  a  visit  of 
General  Pershing  to  the  wounded  soldiers 
in  the  hospitals  remarked:  "A  handclasp,  a 
word  of  commendation  may  cause  many 
severe  wounds  to  heal  rapidly,"     That  any- 

49 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

one  can  understand  who  believes  in  the 
influence  of  the  mind  over  the  body.  A 
striking  illustration  of  this  is  furnished  by 
the  report  of  Surgeon  General  Ireland,  to 
the  effect  that  out  of  the  six  thousand  shell- 
shocked  military  patients  in  hospitals,  five 
thousand  seven  hundred  immediately  recov- 
ered on  hearing  the  news  of  the  signing  of 
^^  the  armistice. 

In  regard  to  the  curative  power  of  sug- 
gestion much  depends  upon  the  way  in 
which  it  is  given.  It  should  be  given  with 
confidence,  and  with  pressure;  the  truth 
should  be  borne  in,  and  steadily  pushed 
home  until  it  finds  a  lodgment  in  the  mind 
and  begins  to  act.  It  is  here  that  the 
Christian  healer  gets  in  his  fine  work.  He 
begins  by  carefully  eliminating  counter 
suggestions,  using  the  reiteration  of  certain 
formulas  to  intensify  the  power  of  suggestion 
by  sending  a  stream  of  nervous  energy  in 
the  direction  required.  He  not  only  denies 
sickness;  he  demonstrates  for  health,  affirms 
it,  and  seeks  to  make  the  one  who  is  sick 
enter  into  its  realization.  To  suggestion 
he  adds  determinative  power.  In  this  he 
is   simply   following   the   ordinary   law   of 

50 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

personal  influence;  which  is,  as  the  word 
itself  indicates,  the  inflowing  of  personality 
into  personality.  And  if  Christian  Science 
practitioners  can  gain  such  good  results 
from  the  vague  philosophic  suggestions 
which  they  press  home  with  such  strong 
insistence,  how  much  more  ought  the 
Christian  practitioner  accomplish  by  his 
persuasive  presentation  of  the  blessed 
truth  concerning  the  Christ  of  the  Gospels, 
who  has  not  lost  his  ancient  power  to  heal, 
and  who  is  in  the  world  to-day  amid  the 
sick  and  the  suffering  to  bring  them  deliv- 
erance. 

3.  Spiritual.  Christian  Scientists  do  not 
employ  the  word  "spiritual"  in  its  ordinary 
acceptation.  With  them  spiritual  and  men- 
tal are  one  and  the  same.  In  the  New 
Testament  the  term  "spiritual"  always  has 
a  moral  quality  attached  to  it;  and  it  is  in 
that  sense  that  we  now  use  it. 

To  the  moral  nature,  as  distinguished 
from  the  physical  or  mental  nature,  disease 
is  often  to  be  traced;  and  just  as  disease 
that  has  a  mental  origin  calls  for  a  mental 
remedy,  so  disease  that  has  a  physical  origin 
calls  for  a  physical  remedy,  and  disease 
51 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

that  has  a  moral  origin  calls  for  a  moral 
remedy.  There  are  cases  in  which  neither 
physical  nor  mental  medicine  avails.  They 
do  not  go  deep  enough,  because  they  do  not 
reach  the  moral  nature.  In  the  Old  Testa- 
ment sin  and  sickness  are  frequently  con- 
joined; and  God  is  represented  as  effecting 
the  double  cure  of  ''healing  all  our  diseases 
and  forgiving  all  our  iniquities."  In  the 
New  Testament  we  have  a  recurrence  of  the 
same  thought;  as  when  Jesus,  dismissing 
a  paralytic  whom  he  had  healed,  said:  "Sin 
no  more,  lest  a  worse  thing  befall  thee"; 
his  words  evidently  implying  that  his  dis- 
ease had  been  the  result  of  a  sinful  life. 
That  sickness,  suffering,  and  death  often 
come  from  sinful  living  cannot  be  gainsaid. 
Intemperance,  sexual  indulgence,  anger, 
hatred,  revenge  are  the  fruitful  sources  of 
much  of  our  physical  disability;  and  no 
system  of  healing  is  complete  that  does  not 
include  this  class  of  cases,  and  provide 
their  proper  antidote. 

Our  bodies  are  often  sick  because  our 
souls  are  sick.  Christian  Science  seeks  to 
get  rid  of  sin  and  sickness  by  denying  their 
existence;  but,  as  Professor  James  has  said, 

52 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

''they  constitute  the  most  terrible  and 
tragic  facts  of  Hfe."  Waiving  the  question 
as  to  how  Christian  Science  can  cure  sin  and 
sickness  if  they  do  not  exist,  we  point  to  the 
Bible  way  of  dealing  with  them;  which  is 
that  of  destroying  them  by  the  operation  of 
divine  power,  whether  exercised  through 
the  medium  of  human  agencies,  or  by  direct 
action.  Whatever  be  the  method  employed 
it  is  God  who  heals.  And  God  is  no  respect- 
er of  persons  or  of  theories.  He  does  good 
for  good's  sake.  So  anxious  is  he  to  impart 
his  healing  power  that  he  overlooks  our 
ignorance,  error,  and  superstition,  and  ever 
stands  ready  to  accommodate  himself  to  any 
method  by  which  the  heart  of  man  is  opened 
toward  him.  He  will  bless  all  wisely  se- 
lected physical  means ;  he  will  work  through 
suggestion,  whether  it  come  up  from  the 
depths  of  the  subconscious  mind,  or  by  the 
transmission  of  thought  from  one  mind  to 
another,  or  by  divine  suggestion,  whether 
mediated  by  human  agency  or  given  by  the 
direct  whispering  of  the  divine  voice  in  the 
heart;  or  he  will  work  through  a  moral 
nature  made  plastic  by  repentance,  and 
whose  changed  purpose  gives  to  life  a  new 
53 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

survival  value,  making  it  worth  while  for 
him  to  keep  it  going.  Nor  has  any  church 
or  cult  any  right  whatever  to  claim  a  monop- 
oly upon  God's  healing  power.  To  all 
alike  the  fountain  of  divine  life  is  open;  and 
whosoever  will  may  come  and  drink  of  its 
waters,  freely.  Upon  all  alike  the  recreat- 
ing Spirit  of  God  is  poured  out,  and  who- 
soever receives  him  will  be  renewed  in  body 
and  spirit,  as  the  face  of  nature  is  renewed 
by  the  summer  rain  and  the  summer  sun. 
(See  Rom.  9.  11.) 

The  modern  physician  of  the  broader 
type  recognizes  the  working  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  upon  the  spirit  of  man  in  those  various 
ways,  and  adapts  his  treatment  to  what- 
ever mode  of  divine  operation  may  be 
indicated.  He  uses  remedies  whose  effi- 
ciency has  been  certified  by  experience; 
he  recognizes  the  therapeutic  value  of  right 
thoughts;  and,  if  a  Christian,  gives  the 
foremost  place  to  the  healing  power  of  the 
prayer  of  faith.  As  illustrative  of  this 
take  the  wide  healing  ministry  that  is 
going  on  to-day  in  the  foreign  mission  fields, 
with  all  the  "signs  following"  which  were 
found  in  the  early  church;  or  take  the  con- 

54 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

Crete  case  of  Dr.  Trudeau,  who  established 
in  the  Adirondacks  a  sanitarium  for  con- 
sumptives, ministering  to  their  bodies, 
minds,  and  spirits,  in  the  name  of  Christ, 
bringing  them  "to  look  more  hopefully  on 
each  successive  rising  sun,"  and  in  many 
instances  effecting  cures  that  bordered  on 
the  miraculous.  He  himself  was  wont  to 
speak  of  his  ministry  to  the  afflicted  as 
"a  science  and  philosophy  of  Christ,  a  sort 
of  Christian  Science  without  intellectual 
sacrifice''  Let  this  sane,  comprehensive, 
and  Christian  method  of  the  treatment  of 
disease  be  followed  and  there  will  be  no 
room  for  Christian  Science. 


55 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 


CHAPTER  X 
ITS  REACTIONS 

A  NOTABLE  feature  of  Christian  Science 
consists  of  its  reactions.  First,  there  are 
its  physical  reactions.  For  a  time  it  acts 
as  a  nervous  and  physical  stimulant,  buoy- 
ing the  spirits  up,  and  making  the  sufferer 
forget  his  weakness  and  pains;  with  the 
result  that  instead  of  conserving  his  ener- 
gies he  is  in  danger  of  expending  them 
lavishly,  thereby  overtaxing  his  strength 
and  coming  down  with  a  thud.  His  meta- 
physics is  like  a  whip  to  a  jaded  horse, 
urging  him  beyond  his  normal  strength, 
carrying  him  uphill  with  his  heav;^^  load 
at  the  expense  of  complete  depletion  of 
power;  or  it  may  be  compared  to  a  draught 
of  alcohol,  under  the  influence  of  which  feats 
of  strength  are  performed  which  use  up  the 
latent  forces  of  the  body  and  bring  on 
complete  exhaustion. 

Again  and  again  have  I  seen  this  expe- 
rience repeated,  especially  with  nervous 
and  tubercular  patients.  There  would  be 
a  great  exhilaration  of  spirits,  a  sense  of 

5Q 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

complete  renewal,  a  prodigal  expenditure 
of  energy,  followed  by  total  bankruptcy 
and  death.  Seven  cases  of  this  kind  came 
under  my  notice  within  a  short  time.  Let 
me  refer  to  three  of  them. 

The  first  was  that  of  a  young  man 
stricken  down  with  the  white  plague  at  the 
beginning  of  a  brilliant  career.  His  case 
was  proceeding  in  the  usual  way  when  he 
got  ''into  Science."  Then  everything 
changed,  and  he  testified:  "I  am  not  sick; 
I  am  part  of  the  Eternal,  and  the  Eternal 
cannot  be  sick.  I  want  it  known  that  I 
am  well."  The  day  after  this  testimony 
was  given,  while  packing  his  trunk  to  go 
back  to  his  native  Denmark  to  tell  his 
friends  what  Christian  Science  had  done 
for  him,  he  dropped  down  dead. 

A  neighbor  whom  I  saw  passing  my  win- 
dow every  few  days  to  visit  his  healer,  and 
whose  life  was  gradually  ebbing  away, 
called  me  in  after  his  return  from  his  last 
visit  and  said,  "They  have  been  telling  me 
that  I  am  not  sick;  that  all  I  have  is  an 
error  of  belief;  and  I  have  been  trying  to 
believe  it.  But  I  know  better.  I  am  a 
dying  man,  and  there  are  not  many  grains 

57 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

of  sand  left  to  trickle  through  life's  hour 
glass.  I  have  been  following  a  will  o'  the 
wisp  long  enough,  and  now  I  mean  to  creep 
back  to  the  faith  of  my  mother,  and  die 
sane  at  least" — which  he  did. 

The  other  case  was  that  of  a  sick  man 
who  went  to  see  his  healer  in  the  heat  of  a 
midsummer  day,  when  he  ought  to  have 
been  resting  in  the  shade.  He  had  been 
assured  that  all  his  sickness  was  in  his  mortal 
mind,  and  accepting  this  statement  as  true, 
over-exerted  himself.  On  the  way  home, 
when  leaving  the  car,  he  called  for  a  hack, 
which  he  no  sooner  entered  than  he  burst 
a  blood  vessel  and  expired. 

Often  have  I  seen  a  sick  friend,  who  had 
taken  hold  of  Christian  Science  as  a  drown- 
ing man  might  clutch  at  a  straw,  engage 
in  violent  exercise,  perhaps  taking  a  long 
mountain  hike,  when  he  ought  to  have  been 
husbanding  his  energies,  and  while  showing 
unmistakable  signs  that  his  reserved  forces 
were  being  too  largely  drawn  upon,  declaring 
that  he  felt  as  fit  as  ever.  Nothing  could 
be  more  certain  than  that,  unless  something 
intervened  to  change  his  course,  his  false 
strength  would  one  day  give  way  under  this 

58 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

unwise  overstrain,  and  there  would  come 
an  inevitable  and  fatal  collapse. 

Second,  there  are  reactions  in  Christian 
activities.  Just  as  a  train  of  cars,  which 
has  been  detached  from  the  engine,  will 
keep  in  motion  for  a  time  by  the  past 
momentum,  so  Christian  Science  converts 
will  continue  for  a  time  in  the  old  way  of 
social  service,  not  knowing  how  to  give  it  up. 
But  by  and  by  the  pace  will  slacken,  and 
at  length  the  wheels  will  cease  to  move. 
To  keep  working  along  the  line  of  social 
ministrations  we  need  the  urge  which  comes 
from  the  vision  of  the  world's  great  needs, 
and  the  motive  which  comes  from  a  vision 
of  the  great  love  of  the  Christ  of  Calvary. 

Third,  there  are  also  spiritual  reactions, 
the  same  kind  of  reactions  that  follow  the 
highly  wrought  emotional  experiences,  con- 
nected with  an  old-fashioned  revival,  and 
which  go  by  the  name  of  "backslidings." 
These  are  simple  instances  of  spiritual 
atrophy;  of  a  gradual  slipping  from  the 
heights  to  a  dull,  dead  level;  of  the  absence 
of  all  aspiration  or  desire  to  climb;  and, 
worst  of  all,  they  register  a  state  of  smug 
self-complacency  and  contentment. 

59 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 


CHAPTER  XI 

ITS  ONE-SIDEDNESS 

/  r  Truth  has  two  sides.  It  resembles  the 
shield  over  which  a  brace  of  brave  knights 
fiercely  fought,  the  one  maintaining  that 
it  was  silver,  the  other  that  it  was  gold. 
Both  were  right.  It  was  silver  on  the  one 
side,  and  gold  on  the  other.  This  explains 
the  cause  of  many  of  our  controversies. 
They  arise  from  our  inability  to  look  at  both 
ksides  of  a  question. 

This  defect  is  strikingly  conspicuous  in 
Christian  Science.  Take,  for  example,  its 
dictum,  "The  cause  of  all  disease  is  mental." 
A  clearer  case  of  substituting  a  half  truth 
for  the  whole  truth  can  nowhere  be  found. 
All  that  ought  to  be  affirmed  is  that  the 
cause  of  some  diseases  is  mental;  and  with 
that  common-sense  assertion  all  common- 
sense  people  would  agree. 

During  a  recent  epidemic  of  Spanish 
influenza  this  one-si dedness  was  clearly 
shown.  The  Christian  Science  Monitor 
had  some  wise  and  pertinent  things  to  say 
anent  the  necessity  of  exorcising  the  demon 

60 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

of  fear,  which  is  producing  so  much  havoc 
in  the  world.  It  spoke  of  fear  as  a  mental 
microbe,  and  as  the  sole  cause  of  that  dread- 
ful scourge.  This  was  a  clear  case  of 
overstatement.  That  fear  is  a  prolific 
source  of  disease  goes  without  the  saying, 
but  to  say  that  to  it  all  disease  is  traceable 
is  to  put  a  half  truth  for  a  whole  truth. 
Besides  the  mental  microbe  of  fear  there 
is  a  physical  microbe,  which  may  be  seen 
under  the  microscope.  There  it  is  patent 
to  all  beholders,  ready  for  work,  and  only 
waiting  for  congenial  soil  in  which  to  begin 
its  operations.  If  we  live  hygienically,  when 
it  comes  it  will  find  in  us  nothing  upon 
which  to  work.  Instead  of  producing  havoc 
like  a  spark  of  fire  falling  upon  gunpowder, 
it  will  sputter  out  like  a  spark  of  fire  falling 
upon  ice. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  absence  of  fear 
does  not  render  one  absolutely  immune  from 
the  contagion  of  disease.  Witness  this  in 
the  cases  of  the  doctors  and  nurses,  who 
although  void  of  fear  often  succumb  to 
disease  because  their  physical  and  nervous 
overstrain  has  made  them  peculiarly  suscep- 
tible to  its  attacks. 

61 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

Nature  is  our  friend,  not  our  foe;  and 
greater  are  the  forces  that  work  for  health 
than  those  that  work  for  disease.  In  assert- 
ing this  Christian  Science  is  right.  If  we 
trust  Mother  Nature,  she  will  respond  to  our 
confidence.  If  we  launch  our  little  bark 
in  faith  upon  the  mighty  stream  of  being, 
we  shall  be  borne  along  by  benign  forces 
which  make  for  health  and  happiness.  But 
let  us  be  sensible;  and  instead  of  saying, 
"I  cannot  be  sick,"  say,  *'I  am  going  to  be 
well."  Anticipate  good,  not  evil.  Look  upon 
health,  and  not  sickness,  as  your  normal 
condition.  According  to  your  faith  will  it 
be  unto  you.  The  Lord  of  Life  is  able  to  do 
wondrous  things  for  those  who  trust  in  him; 
but  he  is  as  often  unable  to  do  mighty 
works  for  his  own,  "because  of  their  unbe- 
lief." 

It  is  doubtless  true  that  the  scientific 
world  has  not  recognized  sufficiently  the 
action  of  spiritual  forces  in  causing  and 
curing  physical  disorders;  and  it  is  equally 
true  that  Christian  Science  is  not  recog- 
nizing sufficiently  the  action  of  physical 
forces  in  the  same  direction.  In  working 
for  health  God  uses  both.     Faith  and  medi- 

m 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

cine  are  alike  his  agents;  the  one  being 
destructive  of  the  microbe  of  fear,  the  other 
of  the  physical  microbes  that  float  in  the 
air,  and  are  taken  in  by  mouth  or  nostrils. 
He  quickens  our  mortal  bodies  by  his 
Spirit  that  dwelleth  in  us,  and  by  the 
material  remedies  which  he  has  provided. 
A  one-sided  view  of  the  matter,  which  ex- 
cludes him  from  part  of  his  world,  robs  the 
one  who  holds  it  of  part  of  his  blessing. 


63 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 


CHAPTER  XII 

ITS  REPRESSION  OF  NATURAL 
INSTINCT 

When  you  see  one  in  danger  or  distress 
you  have  an  instinctive  desire  to  render  him 
help.  This  instinct,  which  is  one  of  the 
noblest  that  man  possesses,  Christian 
Science  checks  and  crushes.  It  comes  to 
one  who  is  suffering  and  says,  ''Yon — ^your 
real  self — are  not  suffering,  and  cannot 
suffer;  what  you  call  suffering  is  simply  an 
error  of  the  mortal  mind;  deny  it,  and  it 
will  pass  away."  But  often  the  suffering 
refuses  to  be  exorcised;  the  patient  grows 
steadily  worse;  his  long  struggle  ends  in  the 
peace  of  death;  and  he  passes  out  uncom- 
forted  by  the  touch  of  human  sympathy 
for  which  he  yearns. 

The  writer  had  a  friend  who  went  over 
into  Christian  Science.  When  her  husband 
was  taken  seriously  ill  she  believed  that 
she  could  destroy  his  disease  by  denying 
it;  and  whenever  he  complained  of  pain 
she  would  answer,  ''You  are  not  really 
suffering   pain,   but   are   merely   possessed 

64 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

with  the  error  of  suffering."  To  which  he 
would  reply,  "But  I  am  suffering,  my  dear; 
and  I  greatly  need  your  wifely  sympathy." 
Wrapping  herself  up  in  a  blanket  she  would 
sit  in  an  adjoining  room  all  night,  putting 
all  her  effort  of  will  into  denying  his  sickness, 
firmly  believing  that  she  could  roll  back  the 
tide  of  disease  that  was  threatening  to 
overwhelm  him.  But  in  spite  of  all  her 
efforts  he  gradually  sank  into  death's 
embrace,  suffering  to  the  last.  When  she 
saw  that  the  great  change  had  really  come 
she  was  confounded;  and  awaking  from  her 
delusion  she  threw  Christian  Science  meta- 
physics away  as  a  thing  accursed,  saying: 
"What  an  unwifely  wife  I  have  been, 
withholding  from  my  dear  husband  the 
touch  of  sympathy  which  would  have  com- 
forted him  in  his  hour  of  agony.  I  could 
creep  on  my  hands  and  knees  across  the 
fields  of  paradise,  and  prostrate  myself  at 
his  feet,  asking  his  forgiveness,  while  pour- 
ing out  my  soul  in  the  agony  of  a  vain 
regret."  That  there  are  not  more  who 
experience  this  reaction  is  to  be  accounted 
for  on  the  ground  that  their  blindness 
continues   in    spite   of   fatal   facts.     Were 

65 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

their  eyes  opened,  they  would  be  iBlled  with 
the  bitterest  remorse. 

Another  pathetic  Instance  is  recalled. 
A  little  neighbor  girl  was  seen  by  the  writer 
sitting  under  a  tree  on  the  lawn  sobbing  out 
the  sorrow  of  her  heart.  When  asked  what 
the  matter  was  she  said,  "Mother  says  I 
am  not  sick,  but  I  am;  my  head  aches,  my 
back  aches,  and  I  am  sick  all  over."  It 
happened  that  she  was  coming  down  with 
a  severe  attack  of  scarlet  fever,  which 
brought  her  to  death's  door;  and  what  she 
needed  was  a  little  mothering,  which  her 
Christian  Science  mother,  suppressing  her 
natural  instincts,  denied  her.  Christian 
Science  makes  mothers  unmotherly.  But 
instinct  is  stronger  than  philosophy.  Thrust 
human  nature  out  by  the  door,  and  it  will 
return  by  the  window.  Calvinistic  theo- 
logians taught  the  doctrine  of  damnation 
of  non-elect  infants ;  but  the  mothers'  hearts 
protested  and  that  horrible  doctrine  had 
to  go.  And  we  may  be  sure  tliat  when  the 
mother-nature  asserts  itself  within  the 
Christian  Science  circle,  a  philosophy  which 
/  has  called  for  the  crucifixion  of  the  tenderest 
maternal  instincts  will  be  doomed. 

66 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

Sympathy  is  a  Christian  grace,  a  stoical 
callous  nature  is  not  a  Christian  product. 
We  are  attracted  to  the  Man  of  Nazareth 
because  he  "was  touched  with  the  feeling  of 
our  infirmities."  In  the  hour  of  trouble  we 
say,  "Commend  me  to  a  bruised  brother,  for 
he  will  know  how  to  feel  for  me  in  my  sor- 
rows and  misfortunes."  Homer  is  the^ 
mouthpiece  of  humanity  when  he  sings, 

"Yet  taught  by  time  my  heart  has  learned  to  glow 
For  other's  good,  and  melt  for  other's  woe." 

The  craving  for  sympathy  is  universal. 
When,  therefore.  Christian  Science  says, 
"Sympathy  kills,"  it  bears  false  witness. 
True  sympathy  makes  alive;  it  comforts, 
refreshes,  and  strengthens  weary  and  faint- 
ing hearts.  And  any  religion  that  dries  up 
the  fountain  of  sympathy  within  the  human 
breast  is  utterly  unchristian  in  spirit,  what- 
ever it  may  be  in  name,  and  is  foe  to  the 
race. 


67 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

CHAPTER  XIII 

ITS  SELF-CENTERED  SPIRIT 

One  searches  in  vain  for  the  working  of 
the  altruistic  spirit  among  Christian  Scien- 
tists. It  is  observable  that  whenever  any- 
•  one  becomes  a  full-fledged  Christian  Sci- 
entist he  gives  up  all  the  missionary  and 
philanthropic  activities  with  which  his  hands 
were  filled.  He  at  once  draws  into  himself 
and  becomes  absorbed  in  petty  personal 
interests.  He  works,  of  course,  within 
Christian  Science  circles,  but  he  is  hereafter 
out  of  vital  contact  with  the  world  around 
him,  out  of  touch  with  its  throbbing  life,  and 
out  of  helpful  relation  with  its  crying  needs. 
He  lives  on  a  remote  mountain  top,  where  he 
is  not  sickened  by  the  sights  of  human 
wretchedness  and  crime,  and  where  he  is  not 
disturbed  by  the  sighs  and  moans  of  suffer- 
ing humanity.  His  life  is  one  of  refined  self- 
ishness. Like  the  elder  brother  in  the 
parable,  he  may  live  a  proper  life,  be  emi- 
nently respectable,  and  free  from  bad  habits. 
All  he  lacks  is  a  heart. 

68 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

Religion  has  its  beginning  in  the  soul, 
but  it  finds  its  fulfillment  in  the  social  life. 
It  is  like  leaven,  which  does  not  exist  as  a 
thing  apart,  but  works  within  the  meal. 
From  the  center  of  being  it  works  out  to  the 
circumference   of   life.     The   trouble   with 
Christian  Science  is  that  it  does  not  bring 
the  leaven  into  contact  with  the  meal;  that 
it  fails  to  make  religion  a  power  for  right-  v 
eousness.    Prodded  by  public  opinion  and 
by  the  urgent  demand  of  the  times,  it  has 
taken  part  in  a  half-hearted  way  in  the 
"comfort  work"  of  the  Red  Cross  Society; 
but  it  is  not  in  accordance  with  its  princi- 
ples to  administer  relief  to  suffering;  for  to 
do  that  would  be  to  treat  suffering  as  a  fact 
rather  than  as  an  error  of  the  mortal  mind. 

It  was  reported  widely  in  the  public  news- 
papers that  when  an  epidemic  of  smallpox 
broke  out  at  Jacksonville,  Florida;  and  when 
yellow  fever  was  raging  in  Memphis,  Ten- 
nessee, and  nurses  and  physicians  were  vol- 
unteering their  aid,  not  a  single  ''Scientist" 
was  willing  to  lend  a  helping  hand,  and  to 
face  the  deadly  peril  of  contagion. 

Rumor  has  it  that  Christian  Science, 
in  order  to  wipe  out  the  reproach  of  being 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

a  self-centered  organization,  is  at  length 
contemplating  the  establishing  of  a  sanita- 
rium, which,  according  to  Mrs.  Eddy's  sug- 
gestion, is  to  be  "a  resort  for  the  so-called 
sick."  The  public  will  be  disposed  to  over- 
look the  implied  inconsistency  of  providing 
for  the  cure  of  what  does  not  actually  exist 
if  it  can  see  even  this  small  budding  of  the 
philanthropic  spirit.  But  it  will  be  a  long 
day  before  Christian  Science  comes  up  with 
the  churches  which  it  despises,  in  the  blessed 
work  of  ministry  to  the  needs  of  the  miser- 
able, and  righting  the  wrongs  of  the  disin- 
herited. 

A  fundamental  defect  in  Christian  Science 
is  that  it  directs  its  efforts  to  the  healing  of 
the  body,  and  overlooks  the  healing  of  the 
soul  from  the  sin  of  selfishness — which  is  the 
essence  of  all  sin.  It  produces  no  change 
in  the  moral  center  of  man's  being  from 
selfishness  to  love.  It  makes  no  demands 
for  the  exercise  of  self-denial,  or  for  tlie 
sacrificing  of  one's  ease  and  comfort  for 
the  good  of  others.  This,  of  course,  makes 
it  palatable  to  the  natural  man;  who  is 
always  eager  to  accept  a  religion  when  it  is 
made  easy. 

70 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

That  Christian  Science  is  a  transplanta- 
tion from  heathen  soil  is  borne  out  in  the 
testimony  of  the  Pundita  Ramabai,  who 
when  she  came  to  this  country  in  1898, 
remarked:  "On  my  arrival  in  New  York 
I  was  told  that  a  new  philosophy  was  being 
taught  in  the  United  States  and  had  already 
many  disciples.     The  philosophy  was  called 
Christian  Science;  and  when  I  asked  what 
the  teaching  was,  I  recognized  it  as  being 
the  same  philosophy  that  had  been  taught 
among  my  people  for  four  thousand  years. 
It  has  ruined  millions  of  lives  and  caused 
immeasurable  suffering  and  sorrow  in  my 
land,   for  it   is   based   on   selfishness,   and 
shows  no  sympathy  or  compassion.     In  our 
late  famine  our  philosophers  felt  no  com- 
passion for  sufferers,  and  did  not  help  the 
needy.     For  why  should  they  help,  when 
they  claim  that  the  suffering  was  not  real; 
neither  were  the  dying  children  real."     Yes, 
why  should  they.^     Can  anyone  tell.? 

There  was  a  French  philosopher  who 
when  told  of  a  new  religion  which  was 
becoming  immensely  popular,  ventured  the 
conjecture  that  it  was  an  easy  one.  And  it 
was.     It  issued  to  its  followers  no  oppressive 

71 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

commands;  it  smothered  the  cross  with 
flowers;  it  blasted  out  of  the  steep  hillside 
a  path  of  easy  grade  to  the  mountain  top. 
How  different  from  that  is  the  uncompro- 
mising demand  of  Jesus,  that  men  take 
up  their  cross  and  follow  him,  that  they 
deny  self,  and  give  themselves  up  to  self- 
forgetting  service  for  others!  From  the 
way  of  the  bleeding  feet  who  does  not 
shrink?  But  that  is  the  way  the  Master 
went,  and  it  is  the  way  by  which  we  reach 
the  highest  things,  the  way  by  which  we 
enter  into  His  glory. 


7« 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 


CHAPTER  XIV 
ITS  SPIRIT  OF  EXCLUSIVENESS 

Christian  Science  is  a  separatist  move- 
ment. Instead  of  seeking  to  reform  the 
church  from  within,  it  has  renounced  all 
connection  with  it  and  has  gone  out  to  set 
up  its  own  standard  as  a  separate  organiza- 
tion. Its  attitude  toward  the  church  which 
it  has  forsaken  is  not  friendly.  The 
moment  anyone  gets  into  touch  with  Chris- 
tian Science  he  gets  out  of  touch  with  the 
church.  Everything  possible  is  done  to 
destroy  his  faith  in  orthodox  Christianity, 
and  to  break  his  connection  with  old  reli- 
gious associations.  He  becomes  imbued 
with  the  clan  spirit,  and  lives  in  "a  little 
garden  walled  around,"  and  is  not  encour- 
aged to  stretch  out  his  hand  to  those  who 
are  on  the  other  side  of  the  dividing  fence. 
The  Christian  Science  Church  is  perhaps 
the  most  sectarian  of  all  churches — the 
closest  of  all  close  religious  corporations. 

The  movement  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in 
the  present  day  is  toward  union.  In  the 
great  war  for  righteousness  the  federation 

73 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

of  forces  is  demanded  in  order  to  meet  and 
overmatch  the  aggressive,  united  forces  of 
evil.  For  the  union  of  his  people  Jesus 
prayed.  Only  by  securing  this  could  he 
hope  for  the  establishment  of  his  kingdom. 
Hence  any  movement  that  tends  to  the 
dividing  of  the  forces  that  make  for  right- 
eousness is  standing  in  the  way  of  the  fulfill- 
ment of  Christ's  program — which  is  the  com- 
plete subjugation  of  the  world  to  himself. 

As  a  separatist  movement  Christian 
Science  has  developed  a  distinct  religious 
type.  Christian  Scientists  think  alike, 
speak  alike,  act  alike.  They  exhibit  the 
same  hall-marks.  They  are  cast  in  the  same 
mold,  and  resemble  each'  other  like  peas  in 
a  pod.  All  individuality  seems  to  be  rubbed 
out  of  them.  Time  was  when  members  of 
different  denominations  were  distinguished 
from  one  another,  but  that  time  is  well-nigh 
passed.  "Where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is 
there  is  liberty,"  and  liberty  tends  to  variety. 
The  more  free  and  natural  religion  is  the 
more  diverse  will  be  its  forms  of  expression. 

From  this  outward  unity  Christian  Science 
derives  much  of  its  power  of  impression. 
Its  harmony  may  be  outward  and  mechani- 

74 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

cal,  but  what  it  lacks   in   individuality  it 
gains  in  concentration.     Under  the  impact  *^ 
of  blow  after  blow  directed  to  the  same  spot 
something  is  bound  to  give  way. 

The  unity  of  Christian  Science  is,  how- 
ever, only  a  unity  among  themselves.     By 
adopting  a  new  brand  of  religion  they  break 
the    continuity    of    Christian    experience, 
surrender  the  inheritance  of  the  past,  and 
put   themselves   out   of   the   line   of   true, 
spiritual,    apostolic    succession.     In    doing 
this  they  fail  to  distinguish  between  *'the 
old-time  religion,"  which  was  good  enough 
for  mother,  and  is  good  enough  for  us,  and 
the  old-time  theology,  which  may  have  been 
good  enough  for  mother,  but  will  not  suit 
her  children.     Opinions  differ,  but  faith  is 
ever  the  same.     Upon  our  mother's  theology 
we  may  improve,  but  not  upon  her  religion 
— that  is  forever  the  highest  model  for  our 
imitation.      Wise  then  will  we  be  if,  while 
adapting    the    formal    expression    of    our 
beliefs  to  the  growing  thought  of  the  times, 
we  hold  firmly  to  our  ancestral  spiritual 
inheritance,  saying: 

"Faith  of  our  fathers!  holy  faith. 
We  will  be  true  to  thee  till  death." 
75 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 


CHAPTER  XV 
ITS  CLOSELY  KNIT  ORGANIZATION 

The  Christian  Science  movement,  not 
content  with  remaining  a  mere  influence 
pervading  the  churches,  has  built  itself  into 
an  institution,  thus  perpetuating  its  life; 
for  institutions  last  long  after  the  spirit  that 
created  them  is  dead.  But  for  the  fact  that 
it  has  crystallized  into  an  organization,  it 
would  have  been  as  a  voice  crying  in  the 
wilderness,  dying  away  and  lost.  Organ- 
ization has  given  to  it  a  body  in  which  it 
can  live  and  move  and  make  itself  felt  in 
a  visible  world. 

We  find  a  similar  case  in  the  Christian 
Endeavor  movement.  A  young  minister  in 
Portland,  Maine,  organized  a  class  of  young 
people,  to  which  he  gave  that  name;  the 
idea  caught,  because  it  seemed  to  provide 
a  missing  link  between  the  church  and  the 
Sunday  school;  and  as  a  result  we  have  a 
world-wide  organization  by  which  the  name 
of  Dr.  Francis  E.  Clark  will  be  carried  down 
to  posterity.  So  will  it  be  with  Mrs.  Eddy 
with  reference  to  Christian  Science. 

76 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

The  name  itself  was  well  chosen.  It  has 
been  called  "catchy";  and  so  it  is;  for 
"Christian"  and  "Science"  are  words  to 
conjure  with.  Nor  would  the  name  have 
had  any  less  acceptability  if  the  founder  of 
Christian  Science  had  only  had  the  grace 
to  give  to  Dr.  Quimby  the  credit  for  being 
the  originator  of  the  phrase. 

One  thing  that  renders  the  organization 
compact  and  strong  is  the  commercial 
spirit  which  pervades  it;  a  spirit  to  which 
this  commercial  age  is  peculiarly  respon- 
sive. Its  leaders,  readers,  and  practitioners 
constitute  an  inner  circle  or  guild  bound 
together  by  a  common  interest  in  supporting 
a  system  which  gives  them  good  financial 
returns.  One  is  perfectly  amazed  to  dis- 
cover how  many  Christian  Scientists  de- 
rive large  incomes  from  the  practice  of  heal- 
ing. 

Just  as  the  trading  spirit  of  Father 
Abraham  characterizes  the  Jewish  race, 
the  pecuniary  shrewdness  of  Mrs.  Eddy 
characterizes  the  leaders  of  Christian 
Science.  The  people  "demonstrate"  for 
wealth,  and  generally  get  it,  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  one  gets  w^hat  he  goes  after.     Mrs. 

77 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

Eddy  herself  acquired  great  possessions, 
lived  in  affluence,  and  died  a  millionaire. 
In  this  she  was  unlike  the  Man  of  Nazareth, 
who  often  had  nowhere  to  lay  his  head; 
but  was  in  the  unapostolic  succession  of 
those  ecclesiastical  dignitaries,  who,  decked 
in  all  the  trappings  of  wealth,  cut  sorry 
figures  in  the  church  of  the  Carpenter. 

When  in  her  growing  prosperity  she 
advanced  her  fees  for  class  instruction  from 
one  hundred  to  three  hundred  dollars,  she 
naively  remarked:  "When  God  impelled  me 
to  set  a  price  upon  my  instruction  in  Chris- 
tian Science  mind  healing  I  could  think  of  no 
financial  equivalent  for  an  interpretation 
of  knowledge  of  that  divine  power  which 
heals,  but  I  was  led  to  name  three  hundred 
dollars  as  the  price  for  each  pupil  in  one 
course  of  lessons  in  my  college — a  startling 
sum  for  tuition  lasting  hardly  three  weeks. 
This  amount  greatly  troubled  me.  I  shrank 
from  asking  it,  but  was  finally  led  by  a 
strange  providence  to  accept  this  fee. 
God  has  shown  me  since  in  multitudinous 
ways  the  wisdom  of  this  decision"  (Retro- 
spection and  Introspection,  p.  7).  In  spite 
of  the  fact  that  only  partial  payment  was 

78 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

often  exacted  from  the  poorer  pupils;  and 
that  ''indigent  charity  scholars"  had  their 
fees  remitted,  the  income  derived  from 
this  source  must  have  been  enormous — 
sufficiently  so  to  gratify  the  financial  dreams 
of  an  entire  faculty  of  college  professors. 

The  governing  power  of  this  remarkable 
organization  is  vested  in  a  syndicate  at 
Boston,  originally  appointed  by  Mrs.  Eddy, 
and  self-perpetuating.  By  them  all  its 
affairs  are  controlled.  Their  rule  is  abso- 
lute. They  blue-pencil  the  work  of  every 
Christian  Science  lecturer  before  it  is  given 
to  the  public.  The  mother  church  which 
they  represent  gives  them  power  to  dismiss 
any  reader  or  church  member,  without  any 
reason  being  given.  The  by-laws  of  the 
mother  church  cannot  be  changed  without 
the  consent  of  Mother  Eddy,  and,  unfor- 
tunately, she  is  out  of  reach. 

In  a  recent  contest  in  the  courts  between 
the  mother  church  and  the  publishing  so- 
ciety, as  to  which  should  have  controlling 
power  in  business  matters,  the  mother 
church  came  out  on  the  top;  but  the  han- 
dling of  such  immense  revenues  will  always 
be  an  occasion  of  possible  strife,  *'for  where- 

79 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

soever  the  carcass  is,  there  will  the  eagles 
be  gathered  together." 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  as  an  organ- 
ization the  Christian  Science  Church  is  thor- 
oughly undemocratic.  In  the  government 
of  its  affairs  the  rank  and  file  have  no  voice 
or  vote  whatsoever.  It  is  hardly  possible  to 
conceive  of  an  institution  so  completely  out 
of  harmony  with  the  growing  democratic 
spirit  of  the  times,  or  Avith  the  genius  of  our 
free  government.  And  at  a  time  when  the 
American  people  are  seeking  to  make  this 
old  world  safe  for  democracy,  the  presence 
in  our  midst  of  a  native-born  movement  so 
absolutely  undemocratic  in  its  character 
presents  a  striking  anomaly.  Now  that  the 
great  world-war  for  democracy  is  over,  it 
will  suffer  death  from  strangulation  if  the 
bonds  of  repression  are  not  unloosed.  Has 
not  the  Master  himself  warned  us  how  dire 
the  result  will  be,  if  for  the  new  wine  of  free 
thought  we  fail  to  provide  for  it  new  wine- 
skins? 

A  mighty  tidal  wave  of  democratic  senti- 
ment is  sweeping  over  the  entire  world. 
It  has  invaded  the  political  sphere,  over- 
throwing ancient  dynasties:  It  has  reached 

80 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

the  industrial  sphere  where  it  is  being 
temporarily  checked  in  the  vain  endeavor 
to  substitute  one  form  of  class  rule  for 
another;  in  due  time  it  will  reach  the  reli- 
gious sphere,  making  an  end  of  every  form  of 
autocratic  rule.  When  that  time  comes 
those  churches  will  suffer  most  that  are  most 
undemocratic — and  none  will  suffer  more 
than  the  Christian  Science  Church. 


81 


WHAT  ClffilSTLVN  SCIENCE  JVIEANS 


CHAPTER  XVI 
ITS  CENTRALIZED  AUTHORITY 

Christian  Science  centers  in  one 
woman,  who  is  regarded  with  something  of 
the  reverence  which  Roman  CathoKcs  ac- 
cord to  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  who  has  the 
authority  of  a  hundred  popes.  Never  was 
there  such  extreme  loyalty  given  to  a 
leader  as  that  which  is  freely  accorded  by 
Christian  Scientists  to  Mother  Eddy.  To 
her  decree  her  followers  unquestioningly 
bow.  Her  word  is  the  measure  of  truth; 
and  her  dead  hand  continues  to  wield  the 
scepter  of  authority  over  every  department 
of  the  fellowship  which  she  founded.  For 
pure,  unadulterated  absolutism  there  has 
been  nothing  like  it  in  all  history. 

Preaching  was  for  a  time  permitted  "in 
Science,"  but  Mrs.  Eddy  was  displeased 
with  some  of  the  ideas  advanced;  and  so 
in  1885  she  issued  the  following  edict: 
"Humbly,  and  I  believe  divinely  directed, 
I  hereby  order  that  the  Bible  with  Science 
and  Health  and  Key  to  the  Scriptures  shall 
hereafter  be  the  only  pastor  for  Christian 

82 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

Science  throughout  the  land,  or  in  other 
lands."  In  issuing  this  irrevocable  mandate 
she  took  counsel  with  no  one  but  herself. 
Her  followers  had  not  a  word  to  say  in  the 
matter.  Such  an  assumption  of  authority 
ill  becomes  any  frail  and  fallible  mortal. 
No  one  is  wise  enough  or  good  enough  to 
hold  unrestricted  sway  over  others.  Abso- 
lute authority  belongs  alone  to  the  All- 
Wise  and  the  All-Good. 

With  backward  natures,  as  with  back- 
ward nations,  some  form  of  centralized 
authority  may  at  the  first  be  almost  a 
necessity — on  the  principle  that  all  weak 
things  need  something  on  which  to  lean; 
but  when  that  need  has  been  outgrown,  and 
any  degree  of  virility  has  been  attained, 
they  will  throw  away  their  crutches  and 
assert  their  independence  and  freedom. 

The  present  writer  asked  an  intelligent, 
forceful  lady  who  had  been  connected  with 
the  Christian  Science  movement  in  its 
earlier  years  why  she  had  parted  company 
with  Mrs.  Eddy,  and  she  replied,  "Because 
I  wanted  to  do  a  little  of  my  own  thinking." 
A  good  reason  surely!  For  if  there  is 
anything  which  ought  never  to  be  surren- 

83 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

dered,  it  is  the  inalienable  right  to  think  for 
oneself — the  right  of  private  judgment, 
for  the  maintenance  of  which  oceans  of 
blood  have  been  shed.  This  right  Christian- 
ity respects.  It  makes  its  appeal  to  reason. 
It  represents  the  divine  mode  of  approach 
as  being,  "Come  now,  let  us  reason  together" 
(Isa.  1.  18).  It  represents  the  messengers  of 
Christ  as  prefacing  their  utterances  with 
the  words:  ''I  speak  as  to  wise  men,  judge 
ye  what  I  say"  (1  Cor.  10.  15).  It  repre- 
sents Christian  believers  as  in  duty  bound 
to  be  "ready  always  to  give  an  answer  to 
every  man  that  asketh  you  a  reason  of  the 
hope  that  is  in  you"  (1  Pet.  3.  15). 

x\s  a  reaction  against  pure  intellectualism 
in  religion  Christian  Science  has  served  a 
good  purpose.  It  has  called  man  back  to 
belief  in  the  direct  action  of  God  upon  the 
soul,  and  his  direct  guidance  of  it  into  the 
light.  But  in  denying  to  men  the  right  to 
think  for  themselves,  and  to  follow  reason 
as  far  as  it  goes,  it  has  become  a  mental 
soporific.  Contrast  the  attitude  of  Paul, 
"I  speak  as  to  wise  men,  judge  ye  what  I 
say,"  with  that  of  Mrs.  Eddy,  "I  speak  as 
unto   children,   accept   what   I   tell   you." 

84 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

To  follow  Mrs.  Eddy's  way  is  to  remain 
bound  in  the  swaddling  clothes  of  intellec- 
tual and  spiritual  childhood. 

Along  w  ith  the  right  of  free  thought  goes 
the  right  of  free  government,  or  self-deter- 
mination. This,  of  course,  may  be  exer- 
cised by  the  choice  of  representatives,  to 
whom  has  been  delegated  governing  powder, 
which  may  at  any  time  be  recalled.  Therein 
lies  the  difference  between  the  rule  of  the 
American  President  and  that  of  the  ex- 
German  Kaiser;  the  one  is  from  the  people, 
the  other  was  claimed  to  be  from  God 
alone.  In  its  form  of  government  the 
early  church  was  purely  democratic.  It 
chose  its  own  officers,  ordained  them,  and 
held  them  responsible  for  the  proper  use 
of  the  power  which  was  temporarily  com- 
mitted to  them.  They  were  servants  of 
the  church,  and  not  "lords  over  God's 
heritage."  Their  authority  was  accepted 
only  in  so  far  as  it  was  subordinated  to 
that  of  the  Divine  Master,  who  has  said, 
"All  authority  has  been  given  unto  me." 
For  arbitrary,  self-assumed  authority  there 
is  no  place  in  the  Christian  brotherhood. 
All    crown    rights    are    there    ascribed    to 

85 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

Christ.  The  church  is  a  true  repubUc 
whose  governing  principle  is,  ''One  is  your 
Master,  even  Christ;  and  all  ye  are  breth- 
ren." 


86 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 


CHAPTER  XVII 
ITS  FINALITY 

Christian  Science  is  a  finished  religion.  ^ 
The  copestone  of  its  edifice  has  been  laid; 
the  last  words  of  its  sacred  books  have  been 
written,  and  nothing  is  to  be  added  to  them 
or  taken  away  from  them.     The  claim  to 
finality  Mrs.  Eddy  unhesitatingly  makes. 
She  says:  "In  the  year  1866  I  discovered 
the  Christ  Science  of  divine  laws  of  life,  and 
named  it  Christian  Science.     God  had  been 
graciously  fitting  me,  during  many  years, 
for  the  acceptance  of  a  final  revelation  of  the 
absolute  divine  Principle  of  Scientific  being 
and  healing"  (Science  and  Health,  p.  107). 
Mark    the    words,    "a    final    revelation."  ^ 
These  words  leave  no  room  for  change  or 
growth.     They  assume  that  the  revelation 
of  God  to  man  has  reached  its  climax  in 
Christian    Science,    and    that    there   is   no 
further  light  from  the  Word  of  God;  that  in 
Christian  Science  we  have  "truth  uncontam- 
inated   by  human  hypotheses";   and   that 
"outside    of    this    Science    all    is    unstable 
87 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

error"  (Science  and  Health,  p.  302).  *'Even 
the  Scriptures  gave  no  direct  basis  for  de- 
monstrating the  spiritual  principle  of  heal- 
ing until  our  heavenly  Father  saw  fit  to 
furnish  a  key  to  the  Scriptures,  in  Science 
and  Health,  to  unlock  the  mysteries  of 
goodness"  (Retrospection  and  Introspec- 
tion, pp.  35,  36). 

This  claim  to  final  revelation  of  absolute 
principle  is,  however,  discounted  by  its 
revision  more  than  once  in  later  years,  for 
it  is  a  contradiction  in  terms  to  speak  of  a 
final  revelation  as  needing  revision. 

But  the  most  startling  claim  of  all  is  that 
given  in  one  of  her  later  pronouncements, 
when  she  declares  that  "Science  and  Health 
makes  it  plain  to  all  Christian  Scientists 
that  the  manhood  and  womanhood  of  God 
have  already  been  revealed  in  a  degree 
through  Jesus  Christ  and  Christian  Science, 
his  two  witnesses.  What  remains  to  lead 
on  the  centuries  and  reveal  my  successor 
is  man,  in  the  full  image  of  the  Father- 
Mother  God,  man  the  general  term  for 
mankind."  No  language  could  more  ex- 
pressly teach  that  Jesus  Christ  and  Mrs. 
Eddy  are  upon  a  level  as  joint  witnesses  of 

8S 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

God,  that  both  reveal  God  as  Father  and 
Mother,  and  that  for  neither  no  individual 
successor  can  be  found;  the  only  thing 
remaining  being  for  mankind  to  realize  the 
fullness  of  this  twofold  revelation.  Beyond 
this  claim  of  equality  of  authority  with 
Christ  one  would  think  that  it  would  be 
impossible  for  human  presumption  to  go. 

But  she  goes  further  and  declares:  "Our 
Master  healed  the  sick,  practiced  Christian 
healing,  and  taught  the  generalities  of  its 
divine  principles  to  his  students;  but  he 
left  no  definite  rule  for  demonstrating  this 
principle  of  healing  and  preventing  disease. 
This  rule  remained  to  be  discovered  in 
Christian  Science." 

And  yet  it  is  these  daring  claims  that 
give  to  Christian  Science  much  of  its 
strength  of  appeal.  Its  sublime  dogmatism 
makes  converts;  inasmuch  as  it  offers  a 
final  resting  place  to  thought  and  relieves 
people  from  the  trouble  of  thinking  for 
themselves.  To  those  who  are  weary  and 
perplexed,  its  seek-no -further  argument  is 
specially  alluring,  offering,  as  it  does,  an 
end  to  all  the  toilsome  search  after  truth. 

But  to  this  attitude,  which  attempts  to 
S9 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

prevent  the  fermentation  of  thought  by  a 
process  of  mental  sterilization,  everything 
is  at  variance.  The  physical  world  is  in  a 
state  of  continual  flux;  creation  is  unfinished; 
changes  are  going  on  throughout  the  whole 
realm  of  nature.  It  is  the  same  within  the 
sphere  of  religion.  On  the  divine  side  alone 
is  there  finality.  Everything  that  pertains 
to  the  outward  form  of  things  is  subject  to 
change.  Truth  in  its  essence  is  forever  the 
same,  but  its  outward  forms  are  continually 
changing.  Christianity  is  not  static,  but 
vital  and  growing.  It  develops  along  the 
lines  of  the  advancing  thought  of  the  world; 
and  because  it  develops  it  changes.  A  reli- 
gion that  is  fixed  and  changeless  is  sure  to 
become  fossilized  and  sterile.  Everything 
that  continues  to  live  must  be  reborn.  By 
seeking  to  put  religion  into  final  form 
Christian  Science  has  set  itself  in  the  way  of 
becoming  in  time  **an  outgrown  shell  by 
life's  unresting  sea."  The  future  belongs 
alone  to  the  religion  that  can  change  its 
forms  and  adapt  them  to  the  growing  life 
of  the  times. 

The  acceptance  of  Christian  Science  as  a 
final  religion  leads  also  to  the  stultification 

90 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

of  the  intellect.  It  brings  one  into  an  eddy 
in  the  stream  of  life.  When  the  mind  is 
closed  to  all  sources  of  knowledge  save  one — 
when,  as  in  this  instance,  it  is  open  to  the 
author  of  Science  and  Health,  and  all  that 
she  says  is  taken  without  qualification  or 
reservation  as  the  final  revelation  of  truth, 
progress  is  impossible.  Two  things  are 
indispensable  to  mental  development,  name- 
ly, an  independent  mind  that  does  its  own 
thinking  and  an  open  mind  that  welcomes 
light  from  whatever  quarter  it  may  come. 
Christianity,  instead  of  dispensing  with  the 
necessity  of  thinking,  makes  its  direct  appeal 
to  human  reason,  saying,  'Trove  all  things; 
hold  fast  that  which  is  good."  It  invites 
every  earnest  truth-seeker  to 

"Seize  upon  the  truth  where'er  'tis  found — 
Amidst  its  friends;  amidst  its  foes, 
On  Christian  or  on  heathen  ground; 
The  flower's  divine  where'er  it  grows." 

The  attempt  of  Mrs.  Eddy  to  express 
religious  truth  in  final  and  imperishable 
forms  will  prove  as  futile  as  all  similar 
attempts  have  been;  and  if  the  Christian 
Science  of  the  future  sets  itself  in  defiance 
of   the   law   of   progress,    upon   which   the 

91 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

kingdom  of  the  spirit  is  structured,  it  will 
in  time  become  a  mere  religious  fossil, 
unrelated  to  the  living  world  around  it; 
or;  to  change  the  figure,  it  will  become 
side-tracked  while  the  express  train  of 
human  progress  goes  thundering  past. 

Division  is  better  than  death.  Those 
who  lie  together  in  a  religious  graveyard 
have  ceased  from  strife,  because  they  have 
ceased  from  every  other  form  of  activity. 
They  may  be  spoken  of  as  a  united  body, 
but  they  are  united  because  frozen  solid  in 
death's  cold  embrace. 


92 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
ITS  MAIN  ASSUMPTION 

The  main  assumption  upon  which  Chris- 
tian Science  is  built  up  is  that  nothing  exists 
but  spirit;  and  the  attempt  which  it  has 
made  to  defend  that  assumption  has  led  to 
innumerable  contradictions  and  absurdities. 

Harmful  to  a  degree  is  the  way  in  which 
it  plays  fast  and  loose  with  reality.  If  its 
teaching  is  true,  we  live  in  a  world  of 
illusion.  Things  are  not  what  they  seem/ 
Everything  outward  is  unreal,  and  is  only 
the  shadow  of  which  some  spiritual  fact  is 
the  substance.  ''Electricity  and  life,"  says 
Mrs.  Eddy,  "the  offspring  of  finite  mind, 
are  unreal."  And  so  are  all  the  great  forces 
which  we  have  been  wont  to  regard  as 
primal  and  permanent.  What  ordinary 
people  have  believed,  and  always  will  be- 
lieve, is  that  the  outward  world  is  just  as 
real  as  the  spiritual  world;  but  being  essen-  ./ 
tially  different  in  its  qualities,  it  demands  a 
different  kind  of  evidence  for  its  existence. 
A  stone  is  as  real  as  a  soul,  but  they  do  not 
belong  to  the  same  category;  they  do  not 

93 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

occupy  the  same  zone.  The  one  belongs 
to  the  mineral  kingdom,  the  other  to  the 
spiritual  kingdom.  Christian  Scientists 
deny  the  existence  of  the  one,  materialists 
deny  the  existence  of  the  other.  Both  are 
wrong.  For  the  one  there  is  quite  as  valid 
evidence  as  for  the  other.  And  in  spite  of 
the  asseveration  of  Mrs.  Eddy  that  "miner- 
als and  vegetables  are  found,  according  to 
divine  science,  to  be  the  creation  of  erring 
thought"  (Science  and  Health,  p.  543), 
the  well-nigh  universal  verdict  of  mankind 
will  continue  to  be  that  reality  belongs  to 
the  material  equally  with  the  spiritual. 

The  only  avenues  connecting  us  with  the 
outward  world  are  our  five  senses.  It  is 
through  them  alone  that  we  gain  any 
particle  of  knowledge  concerning  the  mate- 
rial world.  They  are  the  only  means  which 
God  has  afforded  us  of  becoming  acquainted 
with  our  house  of  life.  That  they  occa- 
sionally trick  us  cannot  be  denied;  but  to 
say,  as  Christian  Science  does,  that  our 
five  senses  are  five  liars,  who  "break  all  the 
Mosaic  Decalogue  to  meet  their  own  de- 
mands," is  a  libel.  Taken  on  the  whole, 
they   are    to    be   trusted.yTo   deny    their 

94       ^ 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

testimony  is  to  impugn  Divine  Wisdom  in 
giving  them  to  us.  It  would  be  tantamount 
to  affirming  that  something  which  God  has 
given  to  us  has  failed  to  serve  its  purpose. 
Just  as  the  testimony  concerning  the  spirit- 
ual world  is  in  the  spirit,  so  the  testimony 
of  the  outward  world  is  in  the  senses;  and  to 
deny  the  testimony  of  the  senses  is  to  close 
up  the  windows  of  the  soul  and  live  in 
darkness. 

You  hold  in  your  hand  a  watch.  All  that 
you  know  of  it,  all  that  it  is  to  you,  is  simply 
a  group  of  sensations.  It  is  circular,  it  is 
hard,  it  is  cold;  it  is  heavy,  but  does  it  exist 
merely  as  an  idea.?  Does  not  common  sense 
dictate  that  there  is  something  of  which 
these  qualities  are  predicated,  something 
which  the  common  speech  of  mankind  calls 
"substance" — literally  that  which  stands 
under  our  ideas  and  impressions — the  object- 
ive reality  of  which  our  ideas  and  impres- 
sions are  the  fleeting  and  intangible  quali- 
ties .^^ 

Mind  and  matter,  body  and  soul  are 
different  in  kind.  They  possess  different 
attributes;  they  belong  to  different  king- 
doms.    Human  language  has  always  recog- 

95 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

nized  their  essential  difference.  A  lady 
once  asked  the  poet  Hood,  "What  is  mind?" 

His  answer  was,  "No  matter." 

"What  is  matter.^" 

"Never  mind." 

"What  is  soul?" 

"It  is  immaterial." 

And  that  is  just  about  all  that  can  be  said 
on  the  subject.  The  common  speech  of  man 
would  be  required  to  be  reconstructed  before 
we  could  apply  the  qualities  of  matter  to 
mind. 

A  sufficient  answer  to  the  assertion  that 
nothing  exists  but  spirit  is  found  in  the 
witty  lines  of  Lord  Byron: 

"When  Bishop  Berkeley  said  there  was  no  matter, 
And  proved  it,  'twas  no  matter  what  he  said." 

David  Hume,  the  Scotch  philosopher, 
contended  stoutly  for  the  ideality  of  matter. 
When  he  died,  a  wit  who  sought  to  make  his 
theory  ridiculous,  suggested  for  his  epitaph 
the  lines: 

"Beneath  this  circular  stone, 
Vulgarly  called  a  tomb, 
Lie  those  ideas  and  impressions 
That  made  up  David  Hume." 
9G 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

People,  of  course,  smiled,  because  they  knew 
that  beneath  that  circular  stone  lay  a  hand- 
ful of  dust  that  made  up  the  actual  body  of 
the  eccentric  philosopher  who  had  been 
wont  to  walk  their  streets. 

But  while  Christian  Science  holds  that 
nothing  exists  but  spirit,  it  has  evolved  the 
theory  that  that  which  the  mortal  mind 
sees,  feels,  hears,  tastes,  and  smells  does 
exist  in  belief,  and  in  belief  only.  In  such 
a  case  sin  and  suffering  are  looked  upon  as 
false  beliefs,  which  are  to  be  gotten  rid  of. 
It  is  not  fair,  therefore,  to  say  that  while 
Christian  Science  denies  the  real  objective 
existence  of  sin  and  suffering,  it  denies  their 
existence  altogether,  for  it  does  admit  their 
existence  as  errors  of  the  mortal  mind,  and 
admits  also  that  as  such  they  may  have  all 
the  experience  of  reality  which  they  would 
possess  if  they  actually  existed. 

But  this  is  verbal  camouflage;  for  the 
thing  that  exists  only  in  belief  can  be  real 
only  to  the  individual.  It  may  have  no 
actual  reality;  whereas  underlying  every 
well-founded  belief  is  a  substantial  entity 
which  is  ever  the  same,  however  we  may  be 
related  to  it,  or  affected  by  it. 

97 


/ 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

CHAPTER  XIX 
ITS  PHILOSOPHICAL  BASIS 

If  the  old  Berkeleian  theory  of  the  ideaUty 
of  matter  is  the  main  assumption  of  Chris- 
tian Science,  the  old  pantheistic  theory  of  the 
allness  of  God  is  its  philosophical  basis. 
Alexander  McLellan,  editor  of  the  Christian 
Science  Journal,  in  defining  Christian 
Science,  says,  'Tts  fundamental  truths  are 
the  reality  and  allness  of  God,  the  unreality 
and  nothingness  of  matter,  the  spirituality 
of  man  and  the  universe,  the  omnipotence 
of  God,  and  the  impotence  of  evil."  It 
will  be  noticed  that  in  this  definition  the 
allness  of  God  is  put  first.  Christian 
Scientists  are  constantly  ringing  changes 
upon  the  twin  expressions:  "Mind  is  all," 
and  "God  is  all."  Outside  of  mind  and 
God  there  is  nothing  that  is  real  and  sub- 
stantial. 

If  language  has  any  meaning,  mind  and 
God  are  regarded  as  identical,  as  in  the 
declaration,  "There  is  a  power  within  the 
heart  of  man  which  may  be  called  Mind  or 
God,  which  is  omnipotent  in  life,  our  task 

98 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

being  to  get  in  touch  with  it,  and  make  it 
work  for  us."  The  expression  "Mind  or 
God"  blots  out  completely  the  idea  of  divine 
personality,  and  makes  the  Creator  one 
with  the  thing  which  he  has  created.  This 
Mrs.  Eddy  definitely  affirms,  in  her  oft- 
quoted  pronouncement:  "God  is  Love  and 
Law,  is  Principle  not  Person"  (Science  and 
Health,  p.  28).  This  is  to  reduce  God  to  a 
mere  abstraction,  to  rob  us  of  the  living, 
loving,  personal  Friend  whom  we  have 
known  as  our  heavenly  Father. 

Instead  of  saying  that  "God  is  all,"  we 
ought  to  say  that  God  is  in  all — the  pervad- 
ing Life  of  the  universe;  instead  of  saying 
that  God  and  love  are  one,  what  ought  to 
be  said  is  that  love  is  a  quality  of  divine 
personality;  instead  of  saying  that  "all  is 
good,"  what  we  ought  to  say  is  that  there  is 
goodness  in  all;  instead  of  saying  that  good- 
ness fills  the  world,  and  hence  there  is  no 
room  in  it  for  suffering  or  for  sin,  what  we 
ought  to  say  is  that  although  goodness  is 
not  the  only  reality  it  is  the  only  permanent 
reality.  So  long  as  evil  lasts  it  is  as  real  as 
goodness;  but  nothing  that  is  evil  will  last 
forever. 


ty 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

The  declaration  that  "God  is  all,"  that 
he  is  "the  only  Ego,"  that  he  fills  all  space 
and  leaves  no  room  for  anything  else,  does 
away  also  with  human  personality.  Man 
becomes  an  infinitesimal  part  of  an  indefinite 
whole;  freedom,  he  has  none;  self-action,  he 
has  none.  In  all  things  he  is  moved  and 
controlled  by  the  power  into  which  he  has 
been  absorbed. 

The  acceptance  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
allness  of  God  leads  to  strange  results.  If 
God  is  all,  if  he  is  the  sole  reality  in  the 
universe,  man  must  be  part  of  God.  From 
this  conclusion  Christian  Science  does  not 
shrink.  In  a  California  town  in  which  the 
religious  census  was  taken  recently,  at  the 
bottom  of  the  list  of  denominations  repre- 
sented, was  the  following  entry:  "Divine 
Fragment,  one."  In  all  likelihood  that 
"divine  fragment"  as  he  appeared  to  his 
neighbors  had  all  the  marks  of  a  bit  of 
common  clay,  subject  to  "the  thousand 
shocks  that  flesh  is  heir  to."  Man  is  not  a 
bit  of  God,  but  he  is  a  child  of  God;  made 
in  God's  image,  constitutionally  like  him, 
as  a  child  is  like  his  father;  and  meant  to  be 
like  him  morally  as  he  is  like  him  in  all  the 
100 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

essential  elements  of  his  nature.  And  it  is 
this  kinship  and  oneness  of  nature  of  man 
with  God  that  supplies  the  alliance  con- 
dition that  makes  it  possible  for  God  to 
communicate  to  him  all  that  he  needs  for 
the  realization  of  a  perfect  life. 

However  it  may  be  with  some  of  her 
followers,  Mrs.  Eddy  herself  does  not 
hesitate  to  carry  the  doctrine  of  the  divine 
allness  to  its  legitimate  and  inevitable  con- 
clusion in  the  wiping  out  of  every  vestige 
of  human  personality.  She  says,  "We  must 
put  away  the  idea  that  God  and  man  are 
separate  intelligences."  Again  she  affirms: 
''There  is  neither  a  personal  Deity,  and 
personal  devil,  nor  a  personal  man."  And 
once  more:  "The  belief  that  man  has  a 
separate  life  or  soul  from  God  is  the  error 
that  Jesus  came  to  destroy."  It  is  easy 
to  see  how  this  doctrine  cuts  at  the  root 
of  all  human  responsibility;  for  if  man 
is  simply  part  of  the  Divine,  he  has  no 
independent  life.  He  and  God  are  one, 
and  what  he  does  is  what  God  does  through 
him. 

It  is  fundamental  to  faith  that  we  not 
only  hold  to  the  thought  of  God  as  a 
101 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

present  reality,  but  also  as  a  personal 
reality,  with  whom  we  are  personally  re- 
lated, with  whom  we  are  one  in  nature, 
yet  from  whom  we  are  distinct  in  person- 
ality. To  speak  of  him  as  a  "principle" 
simply  confuses  the  issue;  for  a  principle 
must  have  a  vital  center  from  which  to 
work.  Only  in  the  recognition  of  person- 
ality divine  and  human  can  we  find  a  mental 
or  spiritual  resting  place.  Personality  is  of 
the  essence  of  being,  just  as  individuality  is 
of  the  essence  of  character;  and  man  lives 
his  true  life  in  the  external,  in  the  internal, 
and  in  the  Eternal  as  a  finite  being  whose 
springs  are  in  God,  and  as  a  free  being  whose 
life  is  all  his  own. 


102 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 


CHAPTER  XX 
ITS  ABNORMALITY 

Christian  Scientists  live  a  double  life; 
a  life  whose  two  parts  are  in  nowise  vitally 
related.  In  the  outward  sphere  of  human 
activity  they  live  normally;  they  deal  with 
things  they  see  and  touch  and  use  in  a 
normal  way;  but  within  the  sphere  of  the 
inner  life  they  act  abnormally.  They  follow 
like  other  folks  some  reasonable  system  of 
dietetics;  they  appreciate  the  value  of 
exercise  and  fresh  air;  they  are  not  defective 
in  their  sense  of  the  value  of  money;  but 
when  they  are  brought  to  accept  the  dictum 
of  Mrs.  Eddy  that  a  poison  such  as  prussic 
acid  would  be  harmless  as  milk  if  one 
could  only  have  a  firm  belief  in  its  harm- 
lessness,  they  have  passed  into  an  abnormal 
condition  of  mind;  for  a  normal  building 
up  of  life  can  take  place  only  when  one 
relates  himself  to  the  common  experience  of 
humanity.  To  go  contrary  to  that  is  to 
turn  everything  topsy-turvy. 

The  first  step  which  the  initiate  in  Chris- 
tian Science  has  to  take  is  to  come  into  the 
103 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

abnormal  situation  of  denying  the  existence 
of  sin,  of  sickness,  and  of  death — things 
that  the  rest  of  the  world  regard  as  realities. 
To  bring  people  into  that  abnormal  condi- 
tion, in  which  belief  in  these  things  is  de- 
stroyed, is  the  prime  effort  of  every  Christian 
Science  practitioner.  To  the  denial  of  these 
things  the  initiate  is  urged  to  hold  himself; 
nothing  that  would  shake  him  in  this  con- 
viction must  be  introduced;  no  books  save 
those  of  Mrs.  Eddy  and  the  Bible  must 
be  read ;  everything  that  is  disquieting  must 
be  rigorously  excluded;  there  must  be  no 
discussion  or  resistance;  into  the  objective 
consciousness  the  denial  of  everything 
within  the  realm  of  sense  perception  must 
be  allowed  to  sink  unhindered;  and  when 
once  planted  there  it  can  be  depended  upon 
to  do  its  deadly  work. 

This  invasion  of  one  soul  by  another  has 
been  called  an  instance  of  "spiritual  mal- 
practice." But  such  an  invasion  would  not 
be  objectionable  if  its  end  were  legitimate; 
for  all  personal  influence  is  measurably  of  this 
kind.  The  paid  body  of  Christian  Scientist 
missionaries  give  themselves  night  and  day 
to  the  spread  of  their  cult  by  this  method. 
104 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

They  profess  not  to  make  any  direct  appeal 
to  the  people  to  join  their  church,  but  they 
are  tireless  in  their  efforts  to  control  any- 
one who  shows  the  slightest  susceptibility 
to  their  teachings.  Consciously  or  uncon- 
sciously, they  hypnotize  the  soul,  just  as  the 
professed  hypnotist  hypnotizes  the  senses. 
The  senses  are  not  in  abeyance  as  in  hyp- 
notism, but  the  subconscious  mind  is. 
Reason  is  made  to  abdicate  its  throne; 
erroneous  thought  is  transferred  from  one 
benighted  mind  to  another;  and  a  blind 
assent  is  secured  to  a  belief  in  the  nothing- 
ness of  what  was  hitherto  regarded  as 
substantial.  So  unreal  and  dreamlike  does 
everything  pertaining  to  the  outer  life 
frequently  become,  that  one  who  plunged 
deeply  into  Christian  Science — studying  it 
under  Mrs.  Eddy  herself — when  he  after- 
ward came  to  the  surface  and  gained  full 
consciousness,  said  that  so  hazy  and  indis- 
tinct had  the  material  cosmos  become  that 
he  often  found  himself  reaching  out  his 
hand  to  find  if  the  chair  that  he  was  sitting 
on,  or  the  table  he  saw  before  him,  was 
really  there.  An  abnormal  and  unhealthy 
condition  of  mind,  surely ! 
105 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

Yet  this  crumbling  away  of  the  outward 
has  often  one  great  compensation:  it  neces- 
sitates the  throwing  of  the  soul  upon  God 
as  the  ultimate  reality,  and  from  this  comes 
a  strange  elation  and  uplift  that  has  much 
of  the  value  of  an  old-fashioned  conversion. 
But  within  circles  of  ordinary  Christian 
enlightenment  this  change  comes  in  a  better 
way,  through  the  exercise  of  a  simple  faith, 
and  without  the  surrender  of  mental  integ- 
rity or  without  going  back  on  the  common, 
generic  experiences  of  the  race. 

That  the  denials  of  Christian  Science 
run  counter  to  experience  is  shown  from  the 
fact  that  to  get  rid  of  the  notions  of  matter, 
disease,  and  sin  is  not  to  get  rid  of  the 
things  themselves,  for  they  are  still  with  us; 
that  they  are  direct  denials  of  Scripture 
teaching  is  just  as  easily  shown.  To  take 
a  few  examples:  Over  against  the  assertion 
that  there  is  no  matter,  we  put  the  words, 
"The  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of 
the  ground"  (Gen.  2.  7).  Over  against  the 
assertion  that  there  is  no  sickness  we  put 
the  words  written  of  Jesus,  "They  brought 
unto  him  all  sick  people,  .  .  .  and  he  healed 
them"  (Matt.  4.  24).  Over  against  the 
106 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

assertion  that  there  is  no  sin  we  put  the 
words,  "All  have  sinned,  and  come  short 
of  the  glory  of  God"  (Rom.  3.  23).  Over 
against  the  assertion  that  there  is  no  death 
we  put  the  words,  "It  is  appointed  unto 
men  once  to  die"  (Heb.  9.  27).  Evidently, 
the  Bible  looks  at  these  things  as  realities 
and  not  as  "mortal  errors." 

Mrs.  Eddy  is  strangely  inconsistent  with 
her  declaration  that  "disease  is  an  illusion," 
for  she  also  declares  over  and  over  again, 
"I  have  cured  disease."  How  could  she 
cure  that  which  does  not  exist  .^  With  her 
further  declaration  that  "sin  brought  death, 
and  death  will  disappear  with  the  disap- 
pearance of  sin,"  there  will  be  general 
concurrence;  but  when  she  speaks  of  death 
as  "a  mortal  error,"  she  puts  herself  out- 
side normal  human  experience,  to  which 
death  is  very  real,  and  tempts  one  to  remark 
that  if  a  mortal  error,  it  was  one  by  which 
she  herself  was  overcome  at  last. 

In  contrast  with  this  abnormal  view  of 
things  is  the  wholesome,  virile.  Christian 
view  which  represents  Christian  faith  as 
above  reason,  but  in  harmony  with  it;  that 
represents  religion  as  part  of  life,  as  some- 
107 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

thing  which  blends  into  our  common  human 
experiences,  purifying  and  glorifying  them. 
Instead  of  denying  sickness  and  sin  and 
death,  it  looks  upon  health  as  battling 
against  sickness;  righteousness  against  sin; 
life  against  death;  and  it  sees  the  final  van- 
quishment  of  every  foe  of  man  through  the 
healing,  restoring  power  which  Christ  has 
lodged  in  the  world's  heart. 


108 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 


CHAPTER  XXI 

ITS  PASSIVITY 

Christian  Science  is  a  religion  of  pas- 
sivity. It  leads  to  physical  and  nervous 
relaxation,  which  is  well;  and  to  mental  and 
spiritual  relaxation,  which  is  not  well.  It 
keeps  one  waiting  for  the  tide  to  flow  in, 
instead  of  keeping  him  digging  channels 
for  its  inflow.  It  demands  at  the  start 
that  all  self-originated  mental  activity  be 
held  in  abeyance;  and  that  a  certain  ready- 
made  system  of  thought  be  accepted  with- 
out questioning.  One  sometimes  wonders 
what  would  happen  within  Christian  Sci- 
ence circles  were  the  padlock  of  restraint 
removed  from  the  minds  and  lips  of  its 
people.  The  prohibition  of  preaching  was 
certainly  a  master  stroke,  being  a  practical 
necessity  if  the  new  movement  was  to  be 
saved  from  ridicule  and  division.  Under 
any  despotic  government  it  is  always  a 
dangerous  thing  when  people  are  allowed 
to  think  and  speak  for  themselves.  Some- 
thing is  sure  to  happen,  as  in  the  case  of 

Russia  to-day. 

109 


x/ 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

But  repression  has  its  penalty;  and  in  the 
long  run  any  human  organization  from 
which  the  friction  of  free  thought  and  the 
friendly  interchange  of  opinion  is  absent 
must  become  vapid  and  profitless.  When 
a  lady  friend  remarked  to  Archbishop 
Whately  that  during  thirty  years  of  wedded 
life  she  and  her  husband  never  had  a 
difference  of  opinion  about  anything,  he 
replied:  "It  must  have  been  mighty  stale, 
madam."  And  any  fellowship  in  which  all 
agree  beforehand  to  think  the  same  things, 
and  to  repeat  forevermore  the  same  shib- 
boleths, must  become  in  time  like  a  stagnant 
pool  that  sends  forth  pestilential  odors 
until  the  sun  in  mercy  drinks  it  up  and 
leaves  nothing  but  the  dry  and  cracking 
mud. 

In  a  well-balanced  government  there  are 
always  two  wings  or  parties  more  or  less 
clearly  defined,  namely,  one  liberal,  the 
other  conservative,  the  one  acting  as  a 
check  upon  the  other.  Christian  Science 
is  an  organization  with  one  wing.  Within 
it  there  is  a  dull,  leaden  uniformity.  What- 
ever else  the  reformation  movement  in 
Germany,  and  the  Nonconformist  move- 
110 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

ment  in  England  meant,  they  meant  the 
quickening  of  thought  and  the  saving  of 
the  church  from  stagnation.  Christian 
Science  can  be  saved  in  no  other  way. 

Along  with  mental  passivity  always  goes 
spiritual  passivity.  And  this  is  a  remark- 
able feature  of  Christian  Science.  It  knows 
nothing  of  the  war  of  the  spirit  against  the 
flesh  which  Paul  depicts.  It  knows  nothing 
of  vigils,  and  fastings,  and  wrestlings  of 
the  soul.  It  floats  rather  than  swims.  Its 
influence  is  decidedly  benumbing  and  ener- 
vating. Like  all  religions  that  are  predom- 
inantly negative,  and  that  emphasize  the 
passive  virtues,  it  develops  softness  of 
fiber,  and  takes  from  man  the  sturdier 
qualities  that  make  him  a  hero  in  the  strife. 
It  seeks  to  get  rid  of  sin  as  one  might  get 
rid  of  a  cancer  under  the  use  of  an  anaes- 
thetic. It  magnifies  the  doctrine  of  self- 
surrender,  until  God  is  represented  as 
doing  it  all  and  as  leaving  nothing  for  man 
to  do.  In  all  this  it  is  misleading,  for 
nothing  is  clearer  than  that  while  God 
is  doing  his  utmost  for  us,  there  are  many 
things  which  he  calls  upon  us  to  do  for 
ourselves;  things  in  which  we  are  to  co- 
lli 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

operate  with  him;  things  for  whose  effective 
accomphshment  he  seeks  to  give  us  enabhng 
power.  He  gives  us  brains,  and  he  expects 
us  to  use  them;  he  gives  us  truth,  and  he 
expects  us  to  search  for  it;  he  gives  us 
ideals,  and  he  expects  us  to  reahze  them. 
Nor  have  we  any  reason  to  expect  him  to  do 
for  us  what  with  his  help  we  can  do  for 
ourselves. 

It  may  be  that  overemphasizing  of  the 
divine  side  of  things  was  needed  for  a  time 
to  correct  the  prevailing  error  that  repre- 
sented man  as  doing  all  and  as  leaving 
nothing  for  God  to  do.  But  either  view, 
taken  by  itself,  is  only  a  hemisphere  of  truth. 
The  complete  circle  includes  them  both. 
In  a  full-orbed  Christian  experience  pas- 
sivity and  activity,  surrender  to  God  and 
consecration  to  his  service  must  be  united 
harmoniously  and  in  right  proportions. 


112 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

CHAPTER  XXII 
ITS  SUBJECTIVITY 

Christian  Science  is  an  inward-looking 
religion.  In  this  it  resembles  New  Thought 
— from  which  it  differs,  however,  in  that 
while  New  Thought  concerns  itself  with  the 
operations  of  the  mind.  Christian  Science 
concerns  itself  with  the  operation  of  God  in 
and  through  the  mind.  But  on  its  own 
particular  ground  it  is  far  behind  the  ortho- 
dox faith,  which  sets  forth  the  truth  of  the 
God  within  in  a  concrete  and  practical 
form,  at  the  same  time  balancing  it  with 
the  presentation  of  truth  in  its  outward  and 
objective  forms. 

In  the  God  within,  working  for  health  and 
happiness  and  holiness,  which  Christian 
Science  recognizes,  the  orthodox  faith  sees 
Christ  in  man  the  hope  of  glory.  By 
baptizing  divine  immanence  into  the  name 
of  Christ  it  gives  to  it  a  new  redemptive 
significance.  It  also  sees  more  distinctly 
the  God  at  work  as  the  ''one  God  and 
Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and  through 
113 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

all,  and  in  all"  (Eph.  4.  6) — a  God  who  is 
transcendent  and  immanent,  a  God  who  is 
a  Father,  and  at  the  same  time  the  per- 
vading life  of  the  universe,  and  the  in- 
dwelling life  in  the  soul  of  man. 

By  over-emphasizing  the  subjective  side 
of  religion  Christian  Science  has  narrowed 
the  scope  of  its  influence,  and  has  become 
shorn  of  missionary  power.  It  makes  its 
appeal  to  philosophers  rather  than  to  com- 
mon people,  and  is  to  a  large  extent  re- 
cruited from  those  within  the  churches  who 
have  been  prepared  to  receive  its  teachings. 
Its  temple  is  built  with  stones  which  other 
hands  have  quarried  and  hewn.  Prosely- 
tizing power  it  has;  but  self -propagating 
power  it  has  not;  missionary  passion  it  has 
not.  It  does  not  go  out  into  the  highways 
and  hedges  after  the  outcasts.  It  erects 
no  mission  halls;  it  has  no  missionary  prop- 
aganda. It  is  true  that  it  distributes  its 
literature  with  a  lavish  hand;  but  it  makes 
no  effort  to  bring  its  message  down  to  the 
comprehension  of  those  who  are  ignorant  of 
philosophical  terminology. 

Simple-minded  people  need  to  have  truth 
presented  to  them  in  a  more  concrete  form 
114 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

than  that  which  Christian  Science  employs. 
They  need  to  have  it  taken  out  of  the 
abstract  and  set  before  them  in  symbols, 
in  pictures,  in  living  examples.  That  is 
what  is  meant  by  feeding  those  who  are 
babes  in  knowledge  with  the  milk  of  the 
word.  The  strong  meat  of  metaphysics 
they  cannot  assimilate;  that  is  for  those  who 
are  full  grown.  If  we  study  the  preaching 
of  the  apostles  we  will  see  that  invariably 
they  began  by  presenting  their  message 
objectively.  They  told  the  story  of  the 
Christ  in  the  simplest  way,  and  by  it  won 
the  heart  of  the  world.  And  when  they 
came  to  proclaim  the  truth  which  consti- 
tutes the  heart  of  the  gospel — the  truth 
concerning  the  atoning  life  and  death  of 
Christ — they  did  not  elaborate  some  fine- 
spun theory  of  the  atonement,  but  dwelt 
upon  the  simple  fact  of  it,  saying,  "Behold 
the  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  world." 

Christianity  is  a  historical  religion.  Its 
roots  are  not  in  the  air,  but  in  the  soil  of 
historical  fact.  It  is  this  that  brings  it 
down  to  the  ordinary  level  and  makes  it  a 
religion  for  all  people.  But  it  is  also  a 
115 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

spiritual  religion,  something  inwrought  in 
the  souls  of  men,  something  that  Is  realized 
and  perpetuated  in  human  experience.  And 
this  is  the  side  of  it  to  which  Christian 
Science  has  given  a  much-needed  emphasis. 
It  has  met  those  within  the  churches  who 
have  become  dissatisfied  with  the  husks  of  re- 
ligion, those  who  when  they  asked  for  bread 
were  given  a  stone,  those  whose  hunger  for 
the  spiritual  has  been  unappeased,  and  has 
offered  them  the  priceless  and  satisfying 
things  of  the  spirit.  No  wonder  it  has  found 
a  large  response!  What  the  churches  have 
to  learn  is  that  man  as  a  spiritual  being 
never  can  have  his  true  life  in  the  outward; 
that  he  yearns  to  be  ministered  unto  in  the 
deepest  depths  of  his  soul;  that  the  objective 
facts  which  form  the  foundation  of  faith 
must  one  by  one  be  transmuted  into  sub- 
jective experience;  that,  in  a  word,  religion 
must  become  life. 


116 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

CHAPTER  XXIII 
ITS  SERENITY 

This  is  perhaps  its  most  attractive 
feature.  Onlookers  see  fussy,  fretful  people 
go  ''into  Science"  and  become  transformed 
at  once.  They  see  them  develop  poise  of 
body  and  composure  of  spirit,  and  become 
seemingly  undisturbed  by  anything  hap- 
pening in  the  restless  world  around  them. 
And  not  unf requently  the  wish  is  expressed 
for  a  Christian  friend  that  he  might  get  a 
dash  of  Christian  Science  thrown  into  his 
religion. 

In  many  cases,  however,  placidity  would 
be  a  more  correct  word  to  express  the 
change  than  serenity.  Life  has  no  longer 
its  ups  and  downs,  its  heights  of  exaltation 
and  its  depths  of  depression.  It  is  one 
dead  level.  The  raging  torrent  has  changed 
into  a  stagnant  ditch.  The  music  of  life 
is  all  played  upon  the  soft  pedal.  Some- 
thing has  gone  out  of  life;  and  the  measure 
of  smug  satisfaction  felt  is  often  in  pro- 
portion to  the  shallowness  of  the  peace 
experienced. 

117 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

Christian  Science  Is  the  modern  equiva- 
lent for  monastlcism;  which  It  reproduces  In 
an  Improved  and  pleasanter  form.  It  offers 
rest  and  gives  It.  It  provides  an  asylum 
from  life's  carking  cares  and  endless  worries, 
a  quiet  harbor  where  tempest-tossed  souls 
may  ride  at  ease,  with  the  roar  of  life's 
stormy  sea  heard  only  In  the  distance. 
Yet  it  demands  no  outward  separation 
from  the  world;  and  while  looking  upon 
the  world  as  ''a  passing  show,  for  man's 
illusion  given,"  Instead  of  renouncing  it. 
It  seeks  to  extract  from  it  all  the  enjoyment 
it  can;  stopping  Its  ears  to  all  disquieting 
sounds;  and  making  out  of  a  world  of 
illusion  as  comfortable  a  place  as  possible 
In  which  to  live. 

The  writer  has  a  friend  who  was  a  leader 
in  every  form  of  church  work,  and  who 
frankly  went  into  Christian  Science  because 
It  gave  her  a  relief  from  frayed  nerves,  and 
took  her  beyond  the  reach  of  all  vexing 
religious  and  social  problems.  She  had 
been  overdriven.  Her  pastor,  who  was 
known  as  "a  regular  hustler,"  had  whipped 
her  to  duty  with  a  whip  of  scorpions,  until 
she  was  ready  to  fall  down  in  her  tracks. 
118 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

She  has  found  rest  of  a  sort;  rest  from 
toil,  rather  than  rest  in  toil,  and  has  drifted 
into  a  spiritual  Nirvana,  where  she  is  as 
religiously  inert  as  if  held  in  the  embrace 
of  death's  own  sleep. 

Rest  may  be  obtained  at  too  great  a 
price.  It  is  so  obtained  when  it  means 
mental  stagnation  or  the  cessation  of 
helpful  activities.  When  Jesus  said,  "Come 
unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy 
laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest,"  what  he 
promised  was  rest  of  spirit  while  bearing 
life's  burdens  and  performing  life's  duties- 
rest  under  his  yoke.  Exemption  from  trou- 
ble he  never  promised,  but  he  did  promise 
exemption  from  worry  and  disquietude. 
"In  the  world,"  he  said,  "ye  shall  have 
tribulation:  but  be  of  good  cheer;  I  have 
overcome  the  world."  As  there  Is  a  point 
of  rest  In  the  center  of  the  cyclone,  so 
there  Is  for  anyone  who  comes  to  Christ 
and  puts  his  life  In  his  hands  a  place  of 
rest  in  the  heart  of  every  trouble. 

But  where  Christian  Science  falls  Is  that 

It    does    not    go    deep    enough.     The    rest 

which    It    gives    Is    negative    rather    than 

positive;  It  consists  in  the  absence  of  fear 

119 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

rather  than  in  the  complete  adjustment  of 
the  soul  to  God.  Many  of  those  who  go 
into  Science  have  suffered  greatly  from  an 
ingrowing  conscience,  and  have  sought 
relief  by  having  the  troublesome  thing 
removed  at  a  stroke  by  an  act  of  spiritual 
surgery.  But  the  roots  of  bitterness  are 
still  there,  ready  to  spring  up  at  some 
unexpected  time.  It  is  a  delusion  to  think 
that  we  ever  can  reach  a  condition  in 
which,  when  the  Holy  Spirit  comes  to  do 
his  convicting  work,  he  will  find  nothing 
in  us.  Saint  John  has  said,  "If  we  say 
^  that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves, 
and  the  truth  is  not  in  us"  (1  John  1.  8). 
Conscience  is  to  be  cleansed,  not  amputated. 
The  way  to  reach  the  ''peace  that  passeth 
understanding"  is  to  face  the  fact  of  sin, 
and  to  get  right  with  God  about  it  by 
having  it  forgiven;  and  get  right  w^ith 
ourselves  about  it  by  confessing  and  for- 
saking it.  Until  this  is  done  all  outward 
serenity  is  mere  veneer,  covering  the  cracks 
in  the  great  beams  which  support  our 
house  of  life.  Paul  goes  down  to  the  bottom 
of  the  matter  when  he  says:  ''Being  justi- 
fied by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God 
1^0 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ"  (Rom. 
5.  1).  It  is  in  our  adjustment  in  all  our 
Godward  and  manward  relations,  through 
Jesus  Christ,  that  we  alone  can  find  that 
true  and  abiding  peace  which  goes  to  the 
root  of  our  need,  and  which  nothing  m  the 
outward  life  ever  can  disturb  or  destroy. 


ni 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

ITS  REVIVAL  OF  INTEREST  IN 
THE  BIBLE 

Multitudes  of  people  to  whom  the 
Bible  was  a  closed  book  have  been  sent  by 
Christian  Science  to  pursue  its  pages.  And 
that  surely  is  a  great  gain.  The  Bible  is 
its  own  witness;  its  "entrance  giveth  light," 
and  no  one  can  dwell  upon  its  teachings 
without  being  helped  thereby.  But  what 
the  Bible  will  do  for  us  depends  upon  the 
spirit  in  which  we  approach  it  and  the 
attitude  which  we  maintain  with  regard  to 
its  teachings.  It  makes  all  the  difference 
in  the  world  whether  we  come  to  it  with 
an  open  mind  to  find  out  whether  our 
beliefs  are  well  founded,  or  with  a  mind 
closed  to  everything  except  a  handful  of 
mental  prepossessions,  and  a  desire  to  find 
something  that  will  establish  them.  Paul 
commended  the  Bereans  because  they  were 
more  noble  than  those  in  Thessalonica  in 
that  they  received  the  word  with  all  readi- 
ness of  mind,  examining  "the  scriptures 
122 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

daily,  whether  those  things  were  so"  (Acts 
17.  11).  Their  attitude  was  that  of  honest 
truth-seekers  who  were  more  anxious  to 
know  God's  truth  than  to  have  their  own 
preconceived  ideas  confirmed. 

The  unfortunate  thing  about  Christian 
Science  is  that  the  things  which  it  rules  out 
before  coming  to  the  study  of  the  Word 
of  God  are  not  incidental  and  nonessential, 
but  concern  the  very  essence  of  Christianity. 
These  things  include  the  fundamental  doc- 
trines of  sin  and  atonement,  which  form 
the  very  core  of  the  gospel.  What  kind  of 
a  Bible  have  you  left  when  you  deny  before- 
hand its  most  vital  truths? 

Altogether  too  much  value  has  been 
attached  to  the  mere  reading  of  the  Bible 
by  Christian  Scientists.  They  are  great 
Bible  readers,  but  they  are  not  great  Bible 
students.  They  do  not  cultivate  the  open 
mind  which  welcomes  truth  from  every 
quarter.  They  read  their  Bibles  through 
a  pair  of  colored  glasses  furnished  by  Mrs. 
Eddy;  and  having  accepted  beforehand  her 
interpretation  of  its  teachings  their  sub- 
sequent brooding  over  its  words  simply 
confirms  them  in  her  opinions. 
123 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

It  is  not  the  amount  of  Bible  reading 
that  one  does,  but  the  kind  of  it,  that  counts. 
The  Mormons  are  a  Bible-reading  people, 
but  they  do  not  seem  to  get  much  out  of  the 
practice.  The  adherents  of  many  narrow 
sectarian  churches  are  great  Bible  readers, 
but  they  read  onty  along  their  own  special 
lines,  using  the  Bible  as  an  armory  of  proof 
texts  for  the  defense  of  their  peculiar  tenets. 
An  ordinary  Mohammedan  reads  the  Koran 
more  diligently  than  an  ordinary  Christian 
reads  the  Bible,  and  prays  more  frequently; 
but  the  fact  that  he  can  rise  from  his  devo- 
tions and  plunge  a  dagger  into  the  heart  of 
an  "infidel"  shows  that  his  devotions  have 
had  no  practical  value.  The  Bible  to  be 
read  profitably  must  be  read  intelligently 
and  with  spiritual  intent.  Its  great  truths 
must  be  inwardly  digested  and  outwardly 
applied.  There  must  be  no  veil  of  prejudice 
drawn  over  the  heart,  as  Paul  declares  to 
have  been  the  case  with  the  Jews  in  the 
reading  of  the  Old  Testament  prophecies 
concerning  Christ;  nor  must  a  foreclosure 
be  put  upon  any  part  of  the  revelation 
which  God  has  given  to  the  children  of 
men.  All  the  rich  treasures  of  truth  con- 
124 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

tained  in  the  good  old  Book  have  not 
been  discovered.  As  Pastor  Robinson,  ad- 
dressing the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  said,  "God 
has  yet  more  light  to  break  forth  from  his 
Holy  Word";  and  those  honor  God  most 
who  welcome  it  when  it  comes,  by  what- 
ever agency  it  may  be  brought. 

In  the  present  day  in  all  the  churches 
there  is  a  revival  of  interest  in  the  Bible 
which  more  than  parallels  that  within 
Christian  Science  circles.  Never  was  the 
Bible  read  more  reverently  or  more  under- 
standingly,  and  never  did  it  convey  to 
more  of  its  readers  that  first-hand  message 
which  God,  through  its  words,  seeks  to 
bring  to  every  individual  soul. 


125 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

CHAPTER  XXV 

ITS  SHADOWY  CHRIST 

A  SPIRITUALLY  minded  young  woman  who 
had  gone  into  Christian  Science,  and  after- 
ward returned  to  the  church  of  her  earUer 
faith,  when  asked  what  she  had  missed  in 
Christian  Science  that  brought  her  back, 
answered,  ''Christ."  She  had  missed  the 
hving,  loving,  personal  Christ,  who  had 
been  her  unseen  Companion  and  Helper, 
and  had  been  oflFered  in  his  place  a  philo- 
sophical teacher  who  was  the  creation  of 
Mrs.  Eddy;  and  she  found  him  to  be  a 
poor,  pale  substitute  for  the  Christ  she 
had  known. 

In  the  teaching  of  Christian  Science 
Christ  is  made  central,  but  not  the  Christ 
whom  ordinary  Christians  know.  Mrs. 
Eddy  does,  indeed,  speak  of  Jesus  as  con- 
;  ceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  born  of  a 
virgin,  but  she  at  the  same  time  represents 
him  as  only  "wearing  in  part  a  human 
form."  She  even  refers  to  "his  supposed 
life  in  matter" — his  appearance  in  the  flesh 
126 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

being  a  mere  hallucination,  inasmuch  as 
"science  decides  matter  in  the  mortal  body 
to  be  nothing  but  a  behef  in  an  illusion." 
She  distinguishes  between  "the  dual  per- 
sonality of  the  seen  and  the  unseen,  the 
Jesus  and  the  Christ,"  looking  upon  the 
Jesus  of  history  as  one  in  whom  the  eternal 
Christ  was  manifested,  but  not  looking 
upon  the  two  as  one.  She  admits  that 
Jesus  was  crucified,  but  does  not  add  Paul's 
explanatory  phrase,  "for  our  sins."  The 
cause  of  his  agony  was  not  the  burden  of 
man's  transgression,  but  "the  desire  to 
alter  error  of  a  belief  of  life  in  matter"; 
and  when  upon  the  cross  he  was  not  taking 
away  the  sins  of  the  world,  but  giving  "an 
example  and  proof  of  divine  science." 

There  is  something  almost  pathetic  in 
the  anxiety  of  Mrs.  Eddy's  followers  to 
make  it  appear  that  their  system  of  thought 
does  not  destroy  the  doctrine  of  the  atone- 
ment. As  illustrative  of  the  dire  straits 
to  which  they  are  put  to  defend  their  posi- 
tion, take  the  following  from  a  current 
number  of  the  Christian  Science  Journal, 
where  the  writer  explains  the  shedding  of 
blood  upon  Jewish  altars  to  mean  "the 
127 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

symbol  of  the  replacement  in  human  con- 
sciousness of  the  mental  concept  for  the 
spiritual  idea;  the  giving  up  of  the  belief 
that  matter  has  power  for  a  complete 
reliance  upon  God  as  the  only  power." 
How  it  would  have  astonished  the  Jewish 
worshipers  to  have  had  such  a  recondite 
explanation  of  a  symbol  which  to  their 
unsophisticated  souls  simply  meant  the 
giving  of  life  for  life ;  the  same  thing  that  in 
principle  was  recently  witnessed  on  the 
blood-soaked  battlefields  of  Europe.  In 
repudiating,  as  many  orthodox  Christians 
do,  the  quid  pro  quo  view  of  the  atonement, 
and  declaring  that  *'one  sacrifice,  however 
great,  is  insufficient  to  pay  the  debt  of  sin," 
Mrs.  Eddy  unfortunately  repudiates  the 
atonement  itself,  thus  throwing  out  the 
baby  with  the  water  of  the  bath. 

The  connection  between  the  death  of 
Christ  and  the  repentance  which  it  produces 
is  also  ignored  for  the  reason  that  "sin  is  not 
forgiven;  we  cannot  escape  its  penalty." 
In  Christian  Science  the  doctrine  of  the 
divine  forgiving,  restoring  grace,  which  has 
been  throughout  the  Christian  ages  the  very 
heart  of  the  gospel,  has  no  place.  For  the 
128 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

bruised  conscience  it  has  no  remedy;  for  the 
sin-burdened  soul  it  has  no  reUef . 

Mrs.  Eddy  makes  frequent  reference  to 
the  resurrection  of  Christ,  but  she  has 
nothing  to  say  of  the  hving  Christ.  The 
Christ  who  rose  from  the  dead;  who  ascend- 
ed to  the  heavens  from  which  he  came,  and 
returned  to  dwell  forever  with  his  people; 
the  Christ  who  is  ever  with  us,  the  Friend 
above  all  others;  the  Christ  with  whom  we 
can  at  all  times  enjoy  the  closest  intercourse; 
the  Christ  who  will  welcome  us  as  we  pass 
out  of  the  earth-life,  and  with  whom  we 
shall  dwell  forever  in  the  eternal  glory— 
this  Christ  we  fail  to  find  in  the  writings  of 
Mrs.  Eddy,  or  in  those  of  her  followers. 
Of  this  Mrs.  Eddy  herself  must  have  been 
conscious,  for  in  writing  to  Judge  Hanna, 
one  of  her  most  distinguished  disciples,  she 
said,  "I  have  marveled  at  the  press  and 
pulpit's  patience  with  me  when  I  have 
taken  away  their  Lord." 

To  those  w^ho  have  never  known  any 
other  Christ  than  the  one  Christian  Science 
has  to  offer  there  is,  of  course,  no  such  sense 
of  loss,  but  for  those  who  have  once  known 
the  Jesus  of  Nazareth  and  of  Calvary  as  the 
129 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

Christ  of  experience,  it  is  different.  By 
suggesting  that  Jesus  was  less  than  divine; 
that  he  was  subject  to  the  Hmitations 
and  imperfections  of  other  men;  that  "had 
wisdom  characterized  his  own  sayings,  he 
would  not  have  prophesied  his  own  death, 
and  therefore  hastened  it"  (Miscellaneous 
Writings,  p.  84),  Mrs.  Eddy  takes  the  feet 
that  were  resting  upon  the  Rock  of  Ages 
and  sets  them  on  the  sinking  sand.  It  is 
only  to  a  divine  Christ — a  flawless  Christ — 
that  the  heart  goes  out  in  utter  confidence, 
exclaiming, 

"Thou,  O  Christ,  art  all  I  want, 
More  than  all  in  thee  I  find." 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  in  the  testimonies 
as  to  the  benefits  received  by  Christian 
Scientists  very  little  is  said  in  laudation  of 
Christ,  who  in  all  things  ought  to  have  the 
preeminence,  the  chief  credit  being  given  to 
Mrs.  Eddy,  ''the  discoverer  and  founder  of 
Christian  Science."  Many  no  doubt  feel 
differently,  but  that  is  the  painful  impres- 
sion which  their  testimony  too  frequently 
makes. 


130 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

CHAPTER  XXVI 
ITS  USE  OF  PERSONAL  TESTIMONY 

This  is  the  main  factor  in  its  propa- 
gating power.  Its  popularity,  like  that  of 
a  successful  physician,  is  spread  by  its 
grateful  patients.  Its  midweek  service, 
which  is  the  power-house  of  the  movement, 
is  called  "a  testimonial  meeting,"  and  is 
usually  crowded;  while  the  church  prayer 
meeting  across  the  street  may  be  attended 
by  only  a  corporal's  guard. 

Take  up  any  current  number  of  the 
Christian  Science  Journal  and  you  will  find 
a  department  devoted  to  the  record  of 
testimonials  from  those  who  have  benefited 
by  Christian  Science.  Their  benefits  are 
mainly  physical,  but  not  entirely  so.  Most 
of  them  refer  to  the  healing  of  the  body, 
and  change  the  old  time  testimony,  "Come 
all  ye  that  fear  God  and  I  will  tell  what 
he  hath  done  for  my  soul,''  into,  "Come  all 
ye  that  fear  God  and  I  will  tell  you  what  he 
hath  done  for  my  body.''  But  they  do  not 
all  end  there.  Many  go  on  to  witness  to 
131 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

the  sweet  sense  of  divine  immediacy,  deliv- 
erance from  fear,  the  acquisition  of  inward 
repose,  the  breaking  of  the  chains  of  evil 
habits,  and  the  casting  out  of  the  evil 
spirits  of  envy,  jealousy,  and  hate.  And 
these  are  good  things  to  testify  about. 

The  prime  reason  for  the  large  attendance 
at  the  testimonial  meetings  is  found  in  the 
pressure  put  upon  those  who  are  healed, 
or  under  treatment,  to  come  into  the  open 
and  testify  to  what  Christian  Science  has 
done  for  them.  And  apart  from  its  effect 
upon  others  this  personal  testimony  has 
a  psychological  effect  upon  the  individual 
giving  the  testimony,  the  overt  act  strength- 
ening the  new-born  faith,  putting  an  end 
to  all  wavering  of  confidence,  and  driving 
home  the  assurance  of  the  healer  that  all  is 
well. 

Christian  Science  has  had  the  courage 
to  apply  to  its  teaching  the  test  of  expe- 
rience; and  in  that  it  is  wise,  for  experience 
is  the  ultimate  test  of  truth.  At  first  sight 
it  seems  to  meet  the  test;  but  in  reality 
experience  is  its  weakest  and  most  vulner- 
able point.  When  compared  with  those 
within  the  church  who  have  had  no  religious 
132 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

experience  whatever  Christian  Scientists 
have  the  advantage;  but  when  compared 
with  spiritually  minded  Christians  they 
come  far  short.  The  present  writer  has, 
through  the  years,  asked  quite  a  number  of 
Christian  Science  friends  to  tell  him  what 
they  have  got  of  value  out  of  their  religion. 
Their  general  testimony  has  been  that 
they  have  got  deliverance  from  some  phys- 
ical ailment,  freedom  from  fret,  serenity  of 
soul,  and  a  new  sense  of  God,  but  they 
were  sadly  lacking  in  what  constitutes 
essential  Christian  experience.  The  thing 
which  was  most  conspicuously  absent  was 
the  happy  consciousness  of  personal  com- 
munion with  the  personal  God  and  Father 
revealed  in  Christ.  At  their  lowest  estate 
they  seemed  to  walk  in  a  cloud;  and  at 
their  highest  in  a  golden  haze.  Into  the 
clear  sense  of  divine  sonship,  which  con- 
stitutes the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  they  do 
not  appear  to  have  come. 

When  I  have  in  turn  spoken  to  them  of 
my  own  religious  experience,  testifying  what 
Christ  had  been  to  me — not  only  the  healer 
of  the  body,  but  the  Saviour  of  the  soul; 
not  only  a  pervading  Spirit,  but  an  abiding 
133 


y 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

Companion;  testifying  also  to  the  value  of 
prayer,  as  conscious  fellowship  with  the 
Eternal  Father,  in  whose  bosom  I  could 
bury  my  head  in  the  hour  of  desolation, 
and  in  whose  upholding  power  and  pro- 
tecting care  I  could  continually  rejoice, 
and  have  asked  what  I  could  gain  by  becom- 
ing a  Christian  Scientist,  either  there  has 
been  silence,  or  a  frank  avowal  that  if  they 
had  been  able  to  get  all  of  that  out  of 
orthodox  Christianity  they  never  would 
have  become  Christian  Scientists.  It  is  a 
significant  fact  that  the  majority  of  those 
who  go  over  to  Christian  Science  from  the 
churches  never  have  enjoyed  a  real  spiritual 
experience  of  Christ;  or  if  it  once  were 
theirs,  they  have  lost  it. 

What  we  need  to  do  in  our  churches  is 
to  overmatch  Christian  Scientists  in  the 
matter  of  testimony.  We  have  a  better 
thing  to  offer,  but  we  are  not  working  it  as 
they  are  doing  theirs.  In  giving  testimony 
it  is  necessary,  in  the  first  place,  that  we 
have  something  to  testify  about;  for  a 
witness  does  not  give  his  opinion,  he 
states  facts.  To  give  improved  testimony 
it  is  necessary  that  we  have  an  improved 
134 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

experience,  for  testimony  always  will  rise 
or  fall  with  experience. 

"Johnnie  why  don't  you  sing  louder?" 
said  a  mother  to  her  boy. 

"I  am  singing  as  loud  as  I  feel,"  was  the 
unexpected  reply. 

It  is  so  with  our  witnessing.  The  witness 
of  testimony  will  rise  as  high  as  its  source 
in  experience,  and  no  higher. 

For  the  church  to  increase  her  power  she 
must  improve  her  testimony.  She  must 
have  more  to  tell  of  blessings  actually 
received  from  Christ.  People  will  flock 
to  the  house  of  God  to  hear  of  the  new 
triumphs  of  the  Christ  in  the  miracles  of 
healing  and  saving  power  wrought  by  him 
to-day  rather  than  those  wrought  by  him 
in  the  days  of  his  flesh.  A  colored  preacher 
stood  by  the  door  of  his  little  church 
during  the  progress  of  a  revival,  inviting 
passers  by  to  enter;  saying  to  them,  "Come 
in  here;  there's  honey  in  this  hive."  Chris- 
tian Scientists  have  found  honey  in  their 
hive  and  it  is  sweet  to  their  taste.  In 
Christianity  itself  there  is  an  abundant 
store  of  it,  but  in  our  churches  there  are 
often  only  the  empty  combs  of  form  and 
135 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

ceremony,  from  which  the  honey  has  long 
ago  been  extracted. 

A  witnessing  church  always  will  win  the 
world's  attention.  In  the  day  of  their 
mightiest  spiritual  triumph  the  Methodists 
were  a  witnessing  people.  When  testi- 
mony declines  evangelistic  power  declines. 
What  is  needed  to-day  is  a  recovery  of 
testimony;  and  in  order  to  make  that 
there  must  be  a  new  experience  of  Christ. 
When  formal  Christians  get  converted, 
testimony  will  break  out;  when  worldly 
Christians  get  renewed,  testimony  will  be 
recovered.  When  people  make  trial  of 
Christ,  they  will  be  anxious  to  tell  what 
great  things  he  has  done  for  them,  in 
changing  their  night  into  day,  their  winter 
into  summer. 


136 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

CHAPTER  XXVII 

ITS  THEORY  OF  PRAYER 

Mrs.  Eddy  has  much  that  is  beautiful 
and  inspiring  to  say  touching  the  value  of 
prayer,  but  what  she  means  by  prayer  is 
not  what  Christian  people  in  general  mean 
by  it.  A  Christian  Science  leader  remarks: 
"Healing  in  Christian  Science  is  always  by 
means  of  prayer.  The  word  generally  used 
is  'treatment,'  but  it  is  always  to  be  under- 
stood that  a  Christian  Science  treatment 
is  a  prayer;  and  just  in  proportion  as  it  is  a 
righteous  prayer  does  it  heal  the  sick  and 
reform  the  sinner.  It  is  not  a  prayer  of 
supplication,  but  of  realization;  it  is  not 
merely  asking  God  to  do  something  for 
us,  but  showing  that  he  has  already  done 
the  good  thing  desired."  In  this  statement 
there  is  much  to  commend.  The  emphasis 
which  it  puts  upon  the  prayer  of  realiza- 
tion is  greatly  needed.  Christian  believers 
have  been  too  slow  in  appropriating  to 
themselves  the  blessings  which  God  has 
put  within  their  reach.  Some  one  has  said 
137 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

that  they  carry  with  them  a  blank  check  on 
the  bank  of  Heaven,  countersigned  by 
Christ,  which  they  can  fill  as  they  will; 
but  they  often  hold  it  a  whole  lifetime 
without  cashing  it.  We  have  to  thank 
Christian  Science  for  reminding  us  to  cash 
our  check,  and  take  to  ourselves  all  the 
wealth  of  blessing  that  God  has  promised 
to  his  children. 

The  one  objection  to  this  definition  of 
prayer  is  that  it  repudiates  "the  prayer  of 
supplication,"  that  being,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  ruled  out  by  denial  of  personality 
to  God.  The  prayer  of  petition  is  some- 
thing that  can  take  place  only  when  there 
are  two  closely  related  and  independent 
personalities,  who  can  meet  face  to  face, 
and  between  whom  there  can  be  the  give- 
and-take  of  real  spiritual  commerce.  Very 
naturally  the  prayer  of  petition  passes  over 
into  the  prayer  of  realization  w^hen  what  has 
been  asked  for  is  claimed  and  received. 
This  is  the  order  followed  in  the  rule  laid 
down  bv  the  Master:  '*x\sk,  and  it  shall  be 
given  you;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find;  knock, 
and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you." 

Upon  still  another  ground  petitional 
138 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

prayer  is  ruled  out  by  Christian  Science. 
While  rightly  regarding  prayer  as  under  the 
operation  of  law,  it  leaves  no  room  for 
special  providences  in  human  life,  and 
special  providences  are  the  very  warp  and 
woof  of  petitional  prayer.  The  God  whom 
we  ask  to  do  certain  specific  things  for  us 
must  be  free.  He  cannot  be  fettered  by 
his  laws — which  are  simply  the  ascertained 
methods  by  which  he  usually  works.  He 
must  be  free  to  do  new  and  strange  things 
if  the  interests  of  his  children  demand  them 
— in  a  word,  he  must  be  free  to  do  miracles. 
If  the  Christian  Scientist  does  not  ask 
certain  things  from  God  when  he  prays, 
what  does  he  do?  He  declares,  he  affirms, 
he  ''demonstrates."  His  attitude  is  not 
one  of  expectancy  but  of  realization.  He 
does  not  wait  upon  God,  he  annexes  him. 
He  does  not  receive  what  he  asks  for,  he 
takes  what  he  wants.  He  stands  before 
the  Infinite  Reality,  opening  his  heart  to 
him,  and  claiming  all  things  as  his;  but 
anything  of  the  nature  of  that  close  and 
tender  reciprocity  implied  in  asking  and 
receiving  is  entirely  outside  the  range  of  his 
experience. 

139 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

How  much  more  simple  is  the  way  that 
Jesus  taught!  When  giving  to  his  disciples 
their  first  lesson  in  prayer  he  said,  "When 
ye  pray,  say.  Our  Father" — the  very  idea  of 
divine  Fatherhood  being  regarded  by  him 
as  creative  of  prayer.  Prayer  with  Jesus  is 
the  act  of  coming  into  clear  and  intimate 
fellowship  with  God  as  a  living,  loving, 
personal  Being;  talking  with  him  as  a  child 
with  his  father;  asking  certain  things  from 
him  and  receiving  them  consciously  from 
his  hand.  It  is  a  simple  and  rational  act, 
founded  upon  the  principle  that  while  our 
heavenly  Father  gives  us  many  things 
without  our  asking,  special  and  super- 
abundant blessings  come  in  that  way. 
''Ye  have  not,  because  ye  ask  not."  ''Ask, 
and  ye  shall  receive,  that  your  joy  may  be 
full." 
y/  "God  is  not  influenced  by  man,"  declares 
Mrs.  Eddy.  Hence  she  reasons:  "Asking 
God  to  heal  the  sick  has  no  effect  to  gain  the 
ear  of  love,  beyond  its  ever  presence.  The 
only  beneficial  effect  it  has  is  mind  acting 
on  the  body  through  a  stronger  faith  to  heal 
it;  but  this  is  one  belief  casting  out  another." 
If  this  is  all  that  is  in  prayer  to  Christian 
140 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

Scientists,  how  can  they  ever  become  a 
praying  people?  That  which  has  led  men 
to  pray  the  world  over  has  been  the  belief 
in  the  power  of  prayer;  the  conviction  that 
it  is  the  divine  response  to  the  human 
appeal,  that  it  actually  brings  things  to 
pass,  that  it  releases  divine  power,  that  it 
moves  the  arm  that  moves  the  universe. 
Take  this  conviction  away  and  the  voice 
of  prayer  would  instantly  cease. 

For  audible  prayer  Mrs.  Eddy  has  scant 
use,  and  would  substitute  for  it  the  prayer 
of  silence.  An  exception,  however,  is  made 
in  favor  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  which  is  the 
only  spoken  prayer  allowed  in  the  regular 
church  services.  But  that  model  prayer, 
which  teaches  us  how  to  pray,  instead  of 
being  left  in  its  sublime  simplicity,  has  been 
interlarded  with  running  comments,  which 
obscure  its  meaning  and  mar  its  devotional 
effect.  The  attempt  to  improve  the  per- 
fect is  never  satisfying  in  its  results. 


141 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

ITS   SOLUTION   OF   THE   PROBLEM 
OF  SUFFERING 

The  problem  of  human  suffering  is  the 
mind-racking,  heart-aching  problem  of  the 
ages.  Christian  Science  disposes  of  it  in  a 
summary  fashion.  Instead  of  interrogating 
it  to  find  out  what  it  has  to  say  for  itself, 
it  simply  rules  it  out  of  court.  While 
others  are  patiently  endeavoring  to  untie 
the  Gordian  knot,  it  cuts  it  in  two  at  a 
single  stroke.  Its  treatment  of  the  subject 
reminds  one  of  the  schoolboy's  famous 
essay  on  "Snakes  in  Ireland,"  which  con- 
sisted of  the  single  sentence,  ''There  are  no 
snakes  in  Ireland." 

But  suffering  is  here,  and  the  wisest  course 
to  pursue  is  to  seek  to  discover  not  only  its 
cause  and  its  cure,  but  also  the  very  reason 
for  its  existence.  Owen  Meredith  is  un- 
doubtedly justified  in  saying: 

"There's  purpose  in  pain; 
Otherwise  it  were  devihsh." 

Suffering  is  an  evil,  but  it  is  not  absolute 

evil;    relatively  it  may  be  good.     'Tt  was 

142 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

good  for  me,"  says  one  of  old,  '*that  I  was 
afflicted." 

"There  is  a  soul  of  goodness  in  things  evil 
Would  man  observingly  distil  it  out." 

All  things  are  not  good  in  themselves;  but 
to  those  who  love  God  and  live  in  oneness 
with  his  will  "all  things  work  together  for 
good." 

Being  an  evil,  suffering  is  to  be  gotten 
rid  of  as  soon  as  possible;  and  every  effort 
to  banish  it  from  the  world,  or  to  mitigate 
its  severity,  is  to  be  welcomed  and  encour- 
aged. All  hail  to  the  friends  of  humanity 
who  are  working  untiringly  to  destroy  or 
lessen  it.  But  there  are  worse  things  than 
suffering,  and  in  a  sinful  world  its  ministry 
is  needed.  It  is  nature's  method  of  warning 
us  that  something  has  gone  wrong  which 
requires  to  be  righted;  it  is  also  nature's 
method  to  throw  off  the  thing  that  is  causing 
disturbance;  and  above  it  all  it  is  the  means 
which  God  employs  in  developing  the 
character  of  his  children.  When  God  does 
not  inflict  suffering  he  permits  it,  and  he 
permits  it  for  some  good  end.  Indifferent 
to  our  comfort  he  cannot  be,  but  he  values 
our  character  more;  and  while  he  will  soothe 
143 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

the  suffering,  which  for  the  time  must  needs 
be  borne,  he  will  take  it  away  just  as  soon 
as  he  wisely  and  profitably  can.  When  the 
silver  is  refined  it  is  taken  from  the  fire. 
V  In  the  school  of  suffering  some  of  life's 
best  lessons  are  learned.  ''Knowledge  by 
suffering  entereth." 

"By  the  thorn  road,  and  no  other, 
Is  the  mount  of  vision  won." 

And  by  the  path  of  suffering,  and  none 
other,  is  perfection  of  character  reached. 
Jesus,  our  great  example,  was  "made  perfect 
through  suffering" — perfect  alike  in  his 
manhood  and  Saviourhood — and  we  can 
reach  perfection  in  personal  character,  and 
in  service  to  mankind,  in  no  other  way. 
Poets  * 'learn  in  suffering  what  they  teach 
in  song";  their  sweetest  songs  are  often 
the  wine  from  a  crushed  heart,  and  the  finest 
ministries  of  life  often  come  from  those 
who  have  learned  in  suffering  to  sympa- 
thize with  others  in  sorrow  and  distress. 
Suffering  is  never  to  be  rejoiced  in  for  its 
own  sake,  but  for  its  moral  effect.  "We 
glory  in  tribulations  also,"  says  Paul, 
"knowing  that  tribulation  worketh  patience, 
144 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

and  patience,  experience;  and  experience, 
hope:  and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed;  be- 
cause the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our 
hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  given 
to  us"  (Rom.  5.  3-5).  Again  he  says, 
'*Our  light  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a 
moment,  worketh  for  us  a  far  more  exceed- 
ing and  eternal  weight  of  glory"  (2  Cor. 
4.  16).  Apart  from  life's  trials  many  of  the 
fairest  graces  could  not  exist,  and  many  of 
the  sweetest,  highest  ministries  of  life  could 
have  no  field  for  exercise.  And  if  suffering 
leads  to  saintliness,  and  to  practical  use- 
fulness, who  will  say  that  it  is  evil  only.^^ 


145 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
ITS  SERENE  OPTIMISM 

Christian  Scientists  live  in  a  world  in 
which  they  see  nothing  to  worry  about. 
Better  instructed,  they  would  find  in  this 
world  nothing  worth  worrying  about. 
Everybody  is  agreed  as  to  the  wrongfulness 
of  worry,  and  as  to  the  desirability  of  getting 
rid  of  it;  what  people  differ  about  is  how 
it  is  to  be  banished  from  their  lives.  The 
Christian  Scientist  says,  "Deny  it";  the 
ordinary  Christian  says,  ''Overcome  it." 
Both  may  reach  the  same  end;  but  the  one 
reaches  it  with  power  diminished  because 
of  the  absence  of  effort,  the  other  with 
power  increased  by  means  of  effort. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  with  people 
generally  the  most  conspicuous  thing  about 
Christian  Science,  and  that  which  forms  its 
chief  attraction,  is  that  it  takes  all  fret  and 
fuss  out  of  life.  People  are  not  always 
logical,  and  when  they  see  any  one  lifted 
out  of  gloom  into  the  sunshine,  they  are 
very  little  concerned  as  to  how  the  thing 
146 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

was  brought  about.  All  they  are  interested 
in  is  the  result  itself.  The  metaphysics  of 
Christian  Science  may  be  puzzling,  or  even 
absurd,  but  when  people  see  it  put  to  work 
and  made  to  secure  practical  ends  that  is 
enough.  They  may  then  even  endeavor  to 
get  to  the  heart  of  it,  as  a  thirsty  traveler 
in  the  desert  would  try  to  work  his  way 
through  the  hard  shell  of  a  coconut  in 
order  to  reach  the  milk  which  it  contains. 

The  common  conception  of  a  Christian 
Science  Church  is  that  it  is  a  club  or  coterie 
of  agreeable,  respectable,  well-groomed 
people,  who  agree  together  to  taboo  un- 
pleasant things,  and  who  walk  through 
the  world  with  their  heads  in  the  clouds, 
unvexed  by  tlie  petty  cares  which  buzz 
around  the  heads  of  ordinary  mortals. 

But  there  is  ground  for  the  suspicion 
that  much  of  this  cheerfulness  may  be 
affected;  and  that  the  smile  that  does  not 
wear  off  may  be  a  sign  of  bovine  content- 
ment rather  than  that  of  soul-satisfaction. 
In  a  world  like  this  there  are  many  things 
at  which  we  have  no  right  to  smile,  and  only 
by  shutting  his  eyes  to  them  can  any  one 
get  rid  of  the  pain  and  disturbance  which 
147 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

they  bring.  To  hide  oneself  from  the 
unpleasant  facts  of  life,  after  the  manner  of 
the  ostrich  that  buries  its  head  in  the  sand 
that  it  may  not  see  its  pursuer,  and  to  keep 
crying,  "Peace!  Peace!"  when  there  is  no 
peace,  is  neither  wise  nor  safe. 

To  cultivate  the  grace  of  cheerfulness  it 
is  not  necessary  to  deny  the  unpleasant 
things  in  life;  all  that  is  necessary  is  to 
live  above  them.  A  better  way  than  seeing 
only  what  we  want  to  see,  and  believing  only 
what  we  want  to  believe,  is  to  look  at 
things  straight,  and  see  them  whole;  and 
then  give  prominence  in  our  thought  to 
those  that  are  bright  and  hopeful.  To  allow 
the  mind  to  become  fixed  upon  disquieting 
things;  to  look  at  life  on  its  dark  side,  seeing 
only  the  clouds  and  overlooking  their 
silver  lining,  is  to  rob  the  heart  of  strength 
and  peace  and  joy.  Thoughts  are  creative 
forces.  "As  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart 
so  is  he."  Mrs.  Eddy  has  well  said:  "The 
act  of  describing  disease  makes  the  disease. 
Warning  people  against  disease  frightens 
them  into  it.  This  obnoxious  habit  ought 
to  cease."  And  so  ought  the  obnoxious 
habit  of  looking  at  the  dark  side  of  things  in 
148 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

general.  Faith  should  banish  fear.  When 
happiness  cannot  be  found  in  things  it  can  be 
found  in  God.  No  one  can  rejoice  in 
himself  or  in  his  circumstances  always,  but 
he  can  ^'rejoice  in  the  Lord  always,"  and 
hence  he  can  be  cheerful  under  every  pos- 
sible condition,  and  walk  through  this  dark 
world  along  a  shining  way  that  brightens 
more  and  more  until  it  is  lost  in  the  light 
of  the  eternal  glory. 


149 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

CHAPTER  XXX 
ITS  ETHICAL  IMPLICATIONS 

Christian  Science  has  its  excellences; 
and  many  of  its  failings  lean  to  virtue's  side, 
but  it  has  certain  serious  ethical  defects. 
It  draws  out  of  character  some  of  the  strong 
supports  of  moral  principle,  as  the  fabled 
magnetic  mountain  is  said  to  have  drawn 
the  iron  bolts  from  passing  ships.  Some 
of  the  seeds  of  error  which  it  is  sowing  can- 
not fail  to  yield  a  harvest  of  moral  weakness 
by  and  by.  In  denying  the  existence  of 
evil  it  virtually  wipes  out  all  distinction 
between  right  and  wrong,  makes  an  appeal 
to  conscience  impossible,  and  thus  takes 
the  very  underpinning  out  of  the  moral 
order  of  the  world;  for  it  stands  to  reason 
that  if  there  be  no  such  thing  as  evil,  the 
sense  of  guilt  is  forever  taken  away,  and 
any  appeal  to  moral  standards  human  or 
divine  is  out  of  the  question. 

No  one  can  juggle  with  the  basic  facts 
of  human  experience  without  being  hurt 
thereby.  For  anyone  to  affirm  a  thing  to 
150 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

be  what  he  knows  it  is  not  is  to  have  his 
vision  of  truth  blurred.     There  is,  therefore, 
a  serious  side  to  the  following  amusing  story: 
A   carpenter   was   fitting    a   door   for   a 
Christian  Science  lady,  who  stood  chatting 
with  him,  with  her  hand  resting  upon  the 
jamb.     One  of  her  fingers  was  caught  and 
badly  bruised.     Without  thinking,  she  did 
the  natural  thing  in  the  circumstances- 
she  stuck  her  finger  in  her  mouth  and  began 
to   groan.     The    carpenter   looked   at   her 
amazed,   and   said,   'T  thought  you  as  a 
Christian  Scientist  did  not  believe  in  pain." 
Recovering    herself,    she    answered— her 
face    the    while    white    and    drawn    with 
suffering— "I  do  not  feel  any  pain." 

To  which  our  witty  carpenter  replied, 
"Look  at  this  finger  of  mine;  it  was  caught 
in  a  door  a  week  ago,  just  as  yours  was  a 
minute  ago,  and  the  nail  was  torn  off,  and 
I  felt  no  pain— but  I  am  lying,  and  so  are 

you." 

How  much  stronger  would  the  case  of  the 
Christian  Scientist  be,  and  how  much  less 
hurtful  to  morals,  if  instead  of  lying  about 
such  an  experience  he  was  content  to  claim 
the  power  of  his  religion  to  mitigate  the 
151 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

severity  of  a  pain  which  it  could  not 
altogether  remove — a  claim  which  no  one 
would  call  in  question. 

Another  illustration  along  this  line  comes 
to  hand.  A  little  Boston  girl  of  five,  who 
is  a  Christian  Scientist  to  the  marrow,  fell 
one  day  and  barked  her  shin.  Rubbing  the 
hurt  with  her  hand,  she  began  to  cry.  Her 
aunt,  an  unbeliever,  happened  along  at  the 
moment,  and  mindful  of  Mary's  faith  and 
those  contradictory  tears,  said  with  a 
mocking  smile,  "Why,  Mary,  are  you  hurt?" 

"No,  I  ain't  hurt,"  answered  the  little 
girl,  restraining  her  sobs  as  best  she  could. 

"But  if  you  are  not  hurt  why  are  you 
crying?" 

"I  am  crying,"  said  Mary,  "because  I 
am  mad." 

"And  what  are  you  mad  about?" 

"I  am  mad — boo,  hoo — "  wept  the  little 
girl — "because  I  can't  feel  that  I  ain't 
hurt." 

Who  can  doubt  that  the  ethical  influence 
of  a  system  that  teaches  children  to  say 
what  they  know  is  not  true  is  hurtful  in  the 
extreme?  It  can  hardly  fail  to  breed  a  race 
of  prevaricators. 

152 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

Another  weak  line  in  the  ethical  chain  of 
Christian  Science  is  that  which  connects  it 
with  the  delicate  question  of  sex-relation- 
ship.    By   repudiating   the   physical   basis 
of  life  Christian  Science  lands  itself  in  a 
strange  predicament.     Afraid  lest  her  divine 
philosophy  might  be  made  ''procuress  for  the 
lords  of  hell,"  Mrs.  Eddy  hesitated  to  carry 
it  to  its  logical  conclusion,  and  said:  "Until 
it  is  learned  that  generation  rests  on  no 
sexual  basis  let  marriage  continue.     Spirit 
will  ultimately  claim  its  own;  and  the  voice 
of   physical   sense   be   forever  hushed"— a 
condition  being  ultimately  brought  about 
which  would  produce  ''children  of  the  soul." 
To  disregard  the  fundamental  laws  which 
govern  the  genesis  of  life,  and  to  affirm  that 
"human  procreation,  birth,  life,  and  death 
are  subjective  states  of  the  erring  human 
mind"    (Miscellaneous   Writings,   p.    286), 
is  to  play  with  fire.     Safety  hes  in  recog- 
nizing our  dual  nature,  and  in  keeping  up  a 
constant  fight  with  "the  fleshly  lusts  which 
war  against  the  soul."     One  may   sin  on 
the  physical  side  of  his  nature  as  well  as  on 
the  spiritual  side  and  to  ignore  the  need  of 
constant  vigilance  and  restraint,  is  to  walk 
153 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

on  thin  ice.  Once  regard  the  body  as  a 
phantom  or  shadow  and  the  sins  of  the 
flesh  become  ''the  shadow  of  a  shadow." 
One  hardly  dares  to  contemplate  what  will 
happen  when  this  false  philosophy  has  been 
taught  to  a  generation  of  young  people. 
The  strongest  barriers  against  sexual  impu- 
rity are  found  in  the  conviction  that  flesh 
ought  to  be  holy  as  spirit;  and  that  against 
every  unholy  appeal  to  the  passions  ought 
to  be  raised  the  religious  protest,  ''How 
then  can  I  do  this  great  wickedness,  and  sin 
against  God.^"  (Gen.  39.  9). 

Mrs.  Eddy  enjoins  faithfulness  to  the 
marriage  vow;  deplores  the  tendency  to 
divorce,  and  has  many  wise  and  beautiful 
things  to  say  in  defense  of  the  integrity  of 
the  home  and  in  exaltation  of  a  life  of 
chastity;  her  followers  also  measure  up  to 
the  best  in  purity  of  life;  and  yet  the  prin- 
ciples which  Mrs.  Eddy  has  inculcated,  and 
which  her  followers  have  accepted,  would, 
if  carried  out,  lead  to  results  from  which,  if 
their  drift  were  once  apprehended,  the  en- 
tire fellowship  would  shudderingly  recoil. 
Fortunately,  the  mass  of  the  people  are  not 
logical,  and  are  governed  by  sentiment 
154 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

rather  than  by  argument;  yet  in  the  long 
run  the  ethical  implications  involved  in  any 
theory  of  religion  or  of  life  which  people 
accept,  are  sure  to  come  to  their  natural 
fruitage.^ 

1  For  evidence  on  this  entire  subject  see  (1)  Article  in  McClure's  Maga- 
zine, April,  1906,  pp.  707-712;  (2)  Fundamental  Teachings  of  Christian 
Science,  by  Charles  W.  McCaskill,  pp.  133-140;  (3)  Article  in  Biblical 
Review,  by  Albert  Clark  Wycoff,  July,  1920,  pp.  395-398. 


155 


mam 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

ITS  MODIFYING  INFLUENCE  UPON 
THE  OLDER  FAITH 

An  important  service  which  Christian 
Science  has  rendered  to  the  orthodox  faith, 
and  one  not  to  be  hghtly  esteemed,  is  that  of 
helping  to  modify  certain  extreme  ideas. 

Take,  for  example,  the  prevailing  con- 
ception of  God.  The  devil,  and  not  God, 
was  often  made  to  appear  to  be  the  actual 
ruler  of  the  world.  Christian  Science, 
guilty  of  as  great  an  overstatement,  came 
in  and,  speaking  of  spiritual  things  in  a 
material  sense,  declared:  ''God  is  all.  He 
fills  all  space;  hence  there  is  no  room  any- 
where in  the  universe  for  a  devil,  or  for 
anything  else  that  is  alien  to  him."  "What 
ought  to  be  said  is,  that  God  is  supreme, 
and  supremely  good,  that  he  is  on  the 
throne;  and  hence  in  the  struggle  of  life, 
''Greater  is  he  that  is  for  us  than  all  that 
can  be  against  us." 

Within  orthodox  circles  religion  was  made 
too  hard;  sin  was  made  to  appear  well-nigh 

156 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

unconquerable,  and  righteousness  well-nigh 
unattainable.  Conditions  of  discipleship 
also  were  imposed  which  the  Master  never 
sanctioned.  Christian  Science  makes  every- 
thing easy.  It  calls  for  no  struggle,  for  no 
humbling  of  self,  for  no  confession  of  sin. 
It  casts  aside  the  hair-shirt  of  self  accusation 
with  a  sense  of  infinite  relief.  It  chloro- 
forms the  moral  nature,  causing  it  to  sink 
into  a  profound  sleep,  from  which  it  awakens 
to  live  supremely  happy  in  a  fool's  paradise. 
Both  extremes  are  false.  Goodness  is  not 
as  hard  as  it  was  pictured  to  be,  but  it  is  no 
primrose  path.  It  is  an  achievement,  and 
not  something  into  which  we  can  float;  and 
there  is  still  as  much  need  as  ever  to  give 
heed  to  the  Master's  words,  "Strive  to 
enter  in  at  the  strait  gate,  for  many,  I  say 
unto  you,  will  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall 
not  be  able"  (Luke  13.  24). 

The  old  faith  made  too  much  of  suffering; 
it  magnified  it  out  of  proportion;  it  dwelt 
too  much  upon  it,  often  making  a  passing 
cloud  shut  out  the  great  expanse  of  blue. 
At  its  best  it  rose  to  the  heights  of  moral 
sublimity,  as  in  the  case  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians who  spoke  of  "our  light  afflictions, 
157 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

which  are  just  for  a  moment";  at  its  worst 
it  sank  to  the  depths  of  moral  weakness, 
becoming  morbid  and  polluting  the  air 
with  unseemly  complaints.  Instead  of  de- 
nying it,  as  Christian  Science  does,  a  more 
excellent  way  is  to  triumph  over  it;  and  by 
becoming  absorbed  in  some  great  task 
forget  all  about  it,  as  the  soldier  forgets  his 
wounds  in  the  heat  of  the  battle. 

The  older  faith  indulged  in  gloomy 
thoughts  of  death,  speaking  of  it  as  ''the 
king  of  terrors."  Christian  Science  will 
have  nothing  to  do  with  it — will  not  even 
acknowledge  it  as  a  fact,  but  insists  upon 
treating  it  as  an  error  of  the  mortal  mind, 
from  which  man  will  yet  be  free.  But  death 
exists.  "It  is  appointed  unto  all  men  once 
to  die,"  and  from  ''the  law  of  death"  which 
reigns  through  sin  no  one  yet  has  escaped. 
But  with  the  Christian,  life,  not  death,  is 
victor;  life  is  not  swallowed  up  in  death, 
but  "death  is  swallowed  up  of  life."  Death 
is  a  vanquished  foe,  and  may  through  faith 
be  met  with  the  challenge,  "O  death,  where 
is  thy  sting?  O  grave,  where  is  thy  victory? 
The  sting  of  death  is  sin;  and  the  strength  of 
sin  is  the  law.  But  thanks  be  to  God,  which 
158 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

giveth   us  the   victory   through   our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ"  (1  Cor.  15.  55-57). 

And  so  with  all  the  doctrines.  By  its 
startling  statements  regarding  them  it  has 
led  to  their  reexamination,  with  the  result 
that  while  nothing  essential  has  been  given 
up,  many  modifications  of  statement  have 
taken  place. 


159 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

ITS  BEARING  UPON  THE  SOCIAL 

AND  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF 

THE  TIMES 

How  long  Christian  Science  has  come  to 
stay  we  know  not.  The  important  fact 
is  that  it  is  here,  that  it  is  part  of  the 
commmiity  life,  and  that  it  is  making  its 
own  particular  contribution  to  the  thought 
and  life  of  the  times.  That  contribution 
thus  far  has  been  a  very  mixed  one,  and 
has  been  both  for  better  and  worse. 

As  a  movement  of  moral  reform  its 
value  to  the  community  ought  to  be 
frankly  recognized.  It  has  transformed 
many  lives;  it  has  broken  the  chains  of 
evil  habit  from  many  enslaved  souls;  it 
has  brought  into  harmony  many  discordant 
characters;  it  has  restored  to  honored  use- 
fulness many  moral  derelicts,  thus  doing 
its  share  to  make  the  world  a  better  place 
in  which  to  live. 

It  also  has  added  an  important  element 
of  conservation  to  the  community  life,  and 
160 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

always  can  be  depended  upon  to  stand, 
in  a  negative  sort  of  a  way,  for  social 
righteousness.  But  it  is  not  in  the  least 
degree  aggressive;  and  when  the  battle 
against  social  iniquity  is  on  it  furnishes 
no  reenforcements.  It  sends  out  no  army 
of  invasion  into  the  city  slums,  nor  into 
the  dark  places  of  heathendom;  it  takes 
no  active  part  in  the  purification  of  politics; 
it  lags  far  behind  in  every  philanthropic 
movement  and  in  every  movement  per- 
taining to  social  betterment.  In  all  these 
things  it  is  very  much  below  the  orthodox 
church,  which,  with  all  its  shortcomings, 
is  still  the  mightiest  force  in  any  com- 
munity for  social  righteousness,  the  sworn 
foe  of  every  evil  work,  the  friend  and 
ally  of  every  cause  devoted  to  the  wel- 
fare of  humanity. 

From  a  social  point  of  view  its  parasitic 
spirit  is  perhaps  its  most  undesirable  qual- 
ity. It  feeds  and  fattens  upon  an  estab- 
lished order  which  it  did  not  produce 
and  which  it  seeks  to  destroy,  taking  to 
itself  all  the  benefits  of  the  improved  social 
order  in  which  it  finds  itself,  not  only 
without  giving  anything  in  return  but  also 
161 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

without  caring  to  keep  alive  the  tree  upon 
which  such  precious  fruits  are  grown.  For 
instance,  it  accepts  and  enjoys  all  the 
advantages  that  have  come  from  advance- 
ment in  science,  such  as  improved  sanita- 
tion, protection  from  infectious  diseases, 
and  from  the  adulteration  of  food,  while 
at  the  same  time  by  denying  the  need  of 
these  things  it  is  breaking  down  the  pro- 
tection which  society  has  laboriously  built 
up  to  save  itself  from  ruin. 

It  is  a  parasite  also  in  that  it  draws 
its  strength  mainly  from  the  churches, 
appropriating,  without  acknowledgment, 
the  treasures  which  its  converts  carry  over 
with  them,  thus  robbing  Peter  to  pay 
Paul,  and  foolishly  imagining  that  it  is 
increasing  the  general  stock  of  religious 
wealth  in  the  community  by  putting  into 
one  pocket  what  it  takes  from  another. 

The  bearing  of  things  like  these  upon 
the  social  and  religious  life  of  the  times 
is  not  to  be  overlooked.  We  all  sail  in  the 
same  ship.  No  man  liveth  unto  himself, 
and  no  organization  liveth  unto  itself. 
The  qualities  which  any  organization  de- 
velops, the  men  whom  it  breeds,  become 
162 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

part  of  our  comnion  civic  life.  Hence  the 
decisive  thing  in  estimating  the  worth  of 
any  rehgious  association  is  its  contribution 
to  society.  Part  of  that  we  may  estimate, 
but  its  sum  total  only  omniscience  can  tell. 


168 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

ITS  SHORT  CUT  TO  THE 
MILLENNIUM 

It  is  nowise  uncommon  to  find  those 
who  have  grown  impatient  of  God's  slow 
and  painful  method  of  working  out  the 
redemption  of  humanity  trying  to  find  a 
short  way  to  the  millennium.  But  of  all 
the  ways  yet  suggested  that  of  Christian 
Science  is  certainly  the  shortest;  and  what 
makes  it  doubly  attractive  to  many  is  its 
apparent  simplicity. 

On  one  condition  it  promises  to  bring 
men  at  once  into  the  possession  of  their 
divine  inheritance.  No  weary  journey  is 
required;  no  long  struggle  is  called  for. 
We  have  simply  to  believe  that  evil  things 
are  not,  and  so  they  pass  away  like  an 
unpleasant  dream.  But,  unfortunately, 
saying  that  '*man  is  incapable  of  sin"  does 
not  do  away  with  the  fact  that  he  does  sin; 
saying  that  he  cannot  be  sick  does  not 
do  away  with  the  fact  that  he  does 
get  sick;  saying  that  he  cannot  die  does 
164 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

not  do  away  with  the  fact  that  in  some 
way  or  other  he  does  suffer  mortal  dis- 
solution. Facts  are  stubborn  things,  and 
have  a  way  of  persisting  in  spite  of  our 
denials. 

Not  by  the  waving  of  a  magic  wand 
can  evil  be  exorcised  and  the  condition 
of  the  world  be  changed.  Up  to  date  all 
advancement  has  been  made  by  struggle. 
It  often  has  taken  the  Lord  a  long  time  to 
teach  the  human  race  a  single  truth.  Think 
of  the  trouble  he  has  had  in  getting  drilled 
into  the  hearts  of  men  the  single  truth 
of  human  brotherhood.  And  the  only 
way  in  which  he  has  been  able  to  teach 
it  has  been  in  the  school  of  suffering. 

"Let  some  great  crucial  hour  of  pain 
Sound  from  the  tower  of  time, 
The  consciousness  of  brotherhood 
Wakes  in  each  heart  the  latent  good, 
And  men  become  sublime." 

Progress  has  been  slow  and  painful,  and 
has  come  out  of  a  long  succession  of  strug- 
gles. "The  whole  creation  groaneth  and 
travaileth  in  pain  together  until  now"; 
but  from  its  pains  comes  the  birth  of  the 
new  age.  Hard  and  toilsome  may  be 
165 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

the  way,  but  the  final  victory  is  assured. 
Countless  may  be  the  sacrifices  called  for, 
but  the  goal  is  not  uncertain.  Redemption 
costs  us  our  Calvarys  as  it  cost  Christ  His. 


166 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

CHAPTER  XXXIV 

MRS.  EDDY  HERSELF 

In  this  investigation  of  Christian  Science 
direct  reference  to  Mrs.  Eddy  has  been 
avoided  as  much  as  possible  for  the  reason 
that  the  personal  equation  is  one  to  which 
an  outsider  is  most  apt  to  do  injustice. 
But  Christian  Science  is  bound  up  with 
Mrs.  Eddy,  and  its  future  will  be  deter- 
mined by  the  measure  in  which  her  per- 
sonal influence,  now  paramount,  will 
continue  to  operate.  Already  one  sees 
ground  for  distinguishing  between  Eddyism 
and  Christian  Science.  The  leaders  of  the 
movement  are  evidently  trying  to  make 
adjustments  to  modern  demands,  while 
holding  to  the  fundamental  principles  held 
by  their  honored  founder.  Points  of  em- 
phasis have  been  changed.  Some  things 
have  been  suppressed.  Scarcely  anything 
is  heard,  for  instance,  of  "malign  animal 
magnetism,"  which  was  such  a  nightmare 
with  Mrs.  Eddy.  And  there  is  no  doubt 
whatever  that  while  Christian  Scientists  of 
to-day  repudiate  the  principle  of  sugges- 
167 


m^^s^s 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

tion,  Mrs.  Eddy  believed  in  it.  She  spoke 
of  Dr.  Eddy,  her  fourth  husband,  in  his 
final  sickness  as  "suffering  from  the  sug- 
gestion of  arsenical  poisoning,"  and  he 
himself,  echoing  her  sentiment,  said,  *'Only 
rid  me  of  the  suggestion  of  poison  and 
I  will  recover."  That  Mrs.  Eddy  was 
unable  to  do,  as  was  shown  by  the  fatal 
termination  of  the  disease. 

Touching  the  life  and  character  of  the 
founder  of  Christian  Science  it  is  not  our 
province  at  present  to  speak  at  length. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  even  in  such  a  memoir 
as  The  Life  of  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  by 
Sibyl  Wilbur,  which  is  wholly  sympathetic 
and  appreciative,  the  character  presented 
is  void  of  moral  grandeur,  and  is  in  no- 
wise comparable  with  the  great  saints 
whom  the  church  has  produced.  Much 
of  Mrs.  Eddy's  life  was  filled  with  petty, 
tawdry  details,  unillumined  by  lofty  mo- 
tives and  unglorified  by  noble  aims. 

And  yet  in  many  respects  it  was  a 
remarkable  life — the  life  of  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  women  of  this  or  any 
age.  And,  like  most  remarkable  lives,  it 
began  in  a  remarkable  childhood. 
168 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

Mary  Baker  was  a  thoughtful,  pensive 
child — evidently  a  bundle  of  contradictions. 
Her  mother  characterized  her  as  '^gentle, 
and  sweet-tempered  as  an  angel,"  whereas 
her  father  is  reported  to  have  said,  "If 
Mary  Magdalene  had  seven  devils,  our 
Mary  had  ten."  No  doubt  both  character- 
izations were  correct.  But,  as  in  many 
strong  natures,  this  duality  was  reduced 
to  unity;  and  the  impetuous  stream  of  her 
life  became  calm  and  placid  at  the  end  of 
its  course. 

Mary  Baker  came  from  good  Congrega- 
tional stock;  went  through  the  usual 
technical  experience  of  a  dramatic  conver- 
sion, and  made  a  profession  of  religion  at 
the  age  of  twelve  years.  It  belonged  to 
the  fitness  of  things  that,  like  Samuel  of 
old,  she  should  hear  voices.  That  period 
lasted  for  several  years,  and  after  it  ceased 
the  mystical  temperament  which  it  be- 
tokened showed  itself  in  other  ways. 

Like  many  inquiring  minds  of  her  day, 
Mrs.  Eddy  for  a  time  dabbled  in  mes- 
merism and  clairvoyance.  When  in  this 
stage  of  development  she  fell  in  with  Dr. 
P.  P.  Quimby,  a  remarkable  man  in  his 
169 


WBB 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

way,  uncultured  but  forceful,  a  kind  of 
forerunner  of  the  whole  school  of  mental 
healers.  She  became  his  patient  and  pupil, 
and  was  without  doubt  indebted  to  him 
for  planting  in  her  mind  the  seed  from 
which  her  future  harvesting  was  to  come. 
She  was  cured  by  him  of  a  disease  of  seven 
years'  standing,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death  poured  out  the  gratitude  of  her 
heart  in  somewhat  turgid  verse,  in  which 
occurs  the  wish,  "Rest  reward  him,  who 
hath  made  us  whole."  Nor  can  she  say 
too  much  in  praise  of  his  method  of  healing, 
hailing  him  as  "the  first  person  of  the  age 
who  penetrated  the  depths  of  truth,  so  as 
to  discover  and  bring  forth  the  science 
of  life,  and  openly  to  apply  it  to  the  healing 
of  the  sick."  She  spoke  of  him  as  one 
who  "rolls  away  the  stone  from  the 
sepulcher  of  error,  and  health  is  the  resur- 
rection"; and  her  eulogistic  verse  she 
prefaces  with  the  statement  that  he  "healed 
with  the  truth  that  Christ  taught,  in 
contradiction  to  all  isms."  Yet  afterward, 
when  she  set  up  for  a  leader,  she  appears 
to  have  repudiated  her  debt  to  Dr.  Quimby, 
speaking  of  him  as  a  mere  mesmerist,  in 
170 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

spite  of  her  own  declarations  to  the 
contrary,  and  in  spite  of  his  clear  pro- 
nouncement that  * 'Disease  is  an  error  in 
belief.  Truth  is  the  cure."  Thus  she 
kicked  away  the  ladder  by  which  she  had 
climbed.  It  is  a  case  similar  to  that  ex- 
pressed in  the  saying,  **Erasmus  laid  the 
egg  of  the  Reformation  and  Luther 
hatched  it." 

From  this  time  her  public  career  began, 
first  as  preacher  in  the  Baptist  Tabernacle 
Church  of  Boston,  then  in  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  of  Lynn,  Massachusetts;  and 
finally  in  the  church  of  her  own  founding. 
She  also  entered  the  field  of  authorship 
in  a  tentative  way,  by  contributing  a 
series  of  love  stories  to  Peterson's  Mag- 
azine. Other  productions  from  her  prolific 
pen  followed  in  quick  succession.  But  the 
distinctive  part  of  her  work  was  that  of 
healing  the  sick,  and  from  the  first  her 
healing  power  began  to  manifest  itself. 
She  herself  testifies  that  many  people  were 
cured  of  disease  while  listening  to  her 
sermons. 

In  1875  she  published  her  magnum  opus 
— Science   and   Health,   with   Key   to   the 
171 


IHIllJLlHWlrBltJi*4H 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

Scriptures — in  an  edition  of  a  thousand 
copies.  The  critics  did  not  know  what 
to  make  of  it  and  prophesied  that  it  would 
never  be  read.  But  they  were  mistaken. 
Gradually  it  worked  its  way  into  notice 
and  favor,  passing  through  many  editions, 
and  finding  for  itself  a  place  on  the  shelves 
of  public  libraries,  from  which  all  other 
divisive  and  sectarian  books  are  barred. 

It  is  a  baffling  book.  To  some  it  is 
a  deep  well  of  wisdom,  to  others  a  wilder- 
ness of  verbiage.  It  professes  to  be  ''wholly 
original,"  but  it  is  not.  Traces  are  to  be 
found  in  it  of  Berkeleian  idealism,  Platonic 
philosophy,  Hindoo  theosophy,  and  various 
odds  and  ends  of  mysticism  and  occultism 
— a  veritable  witch's  caldron  of  ideas. 
Its  style  is  even  more  illusive  than  that 
of  Emerson,  who  when  his  critics  berated 
him  for  sticking  his  head  in  a  cloud,  replied, 
"I  hope  I  have  said  nothing  that  needed 
to  be  proved."  Mrs.  Eddy  does  not 
reason;  she  declares,  speaking  with  the 
authority  of  one  to  whom  direct  revelation 
has  been  given.  By  her  followers.  Science 
and  Health  is  regarded  as  fetish;  many  of 
them  go  to  sleep  with  it  under  their  pillows, 
172 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

and  people  are  said  to  be  healed  simply 
by  reading  it.  It  is  a  literary  phenomenon 
which  may  be  discredited,  but  which  cannot 
be  ignored.  For  good  or  evil,  or  for  both, 
it  is  one  of  the  most  potent  forces  cast 
into  the  fermenting  thought  of  the  world, 
and  has  to  be  reckoned  with. 

It  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  spirit 
of  Christian  Science  that  this  precious 
volume,  instead  of  being  scattered  broad- 
cast in  the  cheapest  possible  form,  has 
been  made  a  thing  of  gainful  merchandise. 
While  the  Bible  itself  is  the  cheapest  book 
in  the  world,  and  is  put  within  the  reach 
of  everybody  through  the  agency  of  Bible 
Societies,  the  Key  to  the  Scriptures  which 
Mrs.  Eddy  furnished,  and  which  pre- 
sumably the  world  needs,  is  beyond  the 
reach  of  many,  inasmuch  as  the  opening 
of  its  treasures  can  be  obtained  only  by 
the  payment  of  from  $3.10  to  $6.00.  This 
prohibitive  price  must  of  necessity  keep 
many  benighted  souls  from  crossing  the 
threshold  of  the  temple  of  knowledge.  It 
was  this  commercializing  of  her  divine 
message  that  led  some  one  facetiously 
to  remark  that  while  Mrs.  Eddy  did  not 
173 


IBHIU-J L       I        I  I  I  I  I     I  ■ 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

believe  in  matter  she  certainly  did  believe 
in  money. 

The  zenith  of  Mrs.  Eddy's  power  was 
reached  about  the  year  1876,  when  the 
first  Christian  Science  Association  was  or- 
ganized; out  of  which,  three  years  later, 
grew  "The  First  Christian  Church  Scien- 
tist," of  which  she  became  the  pastor. 
In  1881  'The  Massachusetts  Metaphysical 
College"  was  founded,  and  continued  in 
existence  eight  years,  during  which  time 
it  enrolled  five  thousand  students.  It  was 
closed  because  of  legal  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  its  granting  degrees,  at  the  time 
when  three  hundred  applicants  were  on 
the  waiting  list. 

Then  followed  a  period  of  marvelous 
growth  and  prosperity,  culminating  in  tlie 
formation  of  the  Mother  Church  of  Boston, 
and  the  erection  of  the  imposing  temple 
of  granite  and  marble  which  has  become 
the  Mecca  of  Christian  Scientists  the 
world  over. 

Mrs.  Eddy  was  a  much-married  woman. 

The  name  of  her  first  husband  was  Col. 

G.   W.   Glover.     By  him  she  had  a  son, 

whom,  as  she  herself  confesses  in  one  of 

174 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

her  books,  she  allowed  to  be  taken  from 
her,  and  brought  up  by  others  at  a  distance. 
And  yet  it  was  this  woman,  who  could 
live  in  separation  from  her  only  child,  that 
claimed  it  to  have  been  her  peculiar  mission 
to  reveal  to  men  "the  Father-Mother  God." 
A  precious  type  of  motherhood  surely  to 
be  chosen  for  such  a  task!  Her  second 
matrimonial  venture,  which  changed  her 
name  to  Patterson,  was  an  unfortunate 
one.  Mr.  Patterson  having  eloped  with  a 
married  woman,  she  secured  a  bill  of  di- 
vorce, and  a  few  years  afterward  married, 
when  nearly  sixty  years  old.  Dr.  Asa 
Gilbert  Eddy.  "This,"  she  said,  "was  a 
blessed  and  spiritual  union."  Her  full 
name  including  all  her  matrimonial  alliances 
would  read,  Mrs.  Mary  Baker  Glover 
Patterson  Eddy. 

From  the  time  of  her  marriage  to  Dr. 
Eddy  she  began  to  make  history.  The 
voice  which  she  heard  in  childhood  ad- 
dressing her  by  name  "three  times  on  an 
ascending  scale,"  she  now,  fifty  years 
after,  set  about  obeying  as  never  before, 
Her  mission  lay  distinctly  before  her,  and 
she  bent  her  energies  to  the  fulfilling  of 
175 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

it.     That  she  has  left  a  large  mark  upon 
the  world's  life  goes  without  the  saying. 

Mrs.  Eddy's  life  resembles  a  day  of 
clouds  and  storms  which  toward  evening 
brightened  up.  Its  earlier  years  were 
decidedly  drab  in  color,  and  were  filled 
with  carking  cares,  petty  bickerings  and 
jealousies,  domestic  infelicities;  besides  the 
bitterness  of  heart  which  comes  from  being 
misunderstood  and  unappreciated.  Like 
almost  every  one  who  has  succeeded  in 
climbing  the  ladder  of  fame,  she  entered 
her  kingdom  of  power  through  much  tribu- 
lation. The  world  will  be  inclined  to  forget 
much  that  lies  in  the  past,  and  think  of 
her  as  her  later  followers  knew,  and  saw, 
and  loved  her,  as  a  benign  old  lady  about 
whose  name  had  begun  to  gather  something 
of  the  odor  of  sanctity,  and  around  whose 
head  had  begun  to  appear  a  halo  of  glory. 
Peace  be  to  her  ashes! 


176 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

WHAT  OF  ITS  FUTURE? 

It  is  a  hazardous  thing  to  prophesy; 
and  there  are  many  things  in  connection 
with  Christian  Science  which  make  any 
forecast  regarding  it  pecuUarly  diflacult. 
Two  courses  are  possible — the  one  is  for 
it  to  remain  stationary,  dwindle,  and  die; 
the  other  is  for  it  to  free  itself  from  the 
limitations  imposed  upon  it  by  its  founder, 
come  out  into  the  stimulating  air  of  modern 
thought,  and  continue  to  grow.  In  tak- 
ing the  latter  course  it  will  be  doing 
no  more  than  its  founder  did  when  she 
broke  with  the  past.  The  right  of  any  or- 
ganization to  live  and  its  power  to  live 
will  be  determined  by  the  measure  in  which 
it  is  able  to  adapt  itself  to  the  ever- 
changing  life  of  the  times.  Only  by  keeping 
in  vital  relation  with  the  expanding  life 
of  its  environment  does  it  hold  the  future 
in  its  hand. 

Take,  for  instance,  our  political  parties. 
When  they  cease  to  keep  pace  with  the 
177 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

growing  life  of  the  present  and  attempt 
to  live  upon  the  past,  they  drop  out  of 
the  race.  To  have  anything  to  say  to  the 
present,  and  to  have  any  claim  upon 
to-morrow  they  must  be  making  continual 
advancement;  breaking  away  from  their 
old  anchorage  and  venturing  out  upon 
unknown  seas  to  discover  unknown  con- 
tinents. So  it  is  with  the  churches.  The 
moment  they  cease  to  make  progress  their 
power  begins  to  decline.  They  live  by 
renewal;  and  no  amount  of  industry  in 
building  the  tombs  of  the  dead  prophets 
will  avail  anything  if  they  have  among 
them  no  new  prophetic  voices  uttering 
the  living  messages  which  the  Spirit  of 
God  is  ever  seeking  to  convey  to  the 
churches. 

Equally  necessary  is  the  proper  adjust- 
ment of  the  church  to  social  life  in  the 
midst  of  which  it  is  planted.  The  church 
is  not  an  end  in  itself,  but  a  means  to  an 
end.  The  end  for  which  it  exists  is  the 
new  social  order  which  is  spoken  of  in  the 
Scriptures  as  the  kingdom  of  God — the 
rule  on  earth  of  righteousness  and  love. 
The  church  that  does  not  subserve  that 
178 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

end  will  die  of  dry  rot.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  church  that  has  most  of  the 
social  passion,  and  that  excels  in  social 
ministry,  holds  the  future  in  its  hands. 
The  future  of  Christian  Science  will 
therefore  depend  quite  as  much,  if  not 
more,  upon  how  the  churches  from  which 
it  has  come  out  of  will  develop,  as  upon 
itself.  If  the  churches  are  wise  to  learn 
the  lessons  which  this  great  defection 
teaches,  and  put  them  into  practice,  the 
tide  will  be  turned,  otherwise  not.  Not  to 
admit  failure  and  profit  by  it  will  be  to 
court  further  disaster.  There  are  things 
which  the  church  may  not  have  repudiated 
which  she  has  sadly  neglected.  Prominent 
among  these  is  the  power  of  Christ  to 
heal  disease.  The  church  must  exercise 
the  ministry  of  healing,  as  in  the  beginning, 
and  must  make  it  one  of  the  prime  means 
of  spreading  the  gospel,  as  in  these  early 
days  of  conquering  power.  The  therapeutic 
value  of  Christian  faith  she  must  emphasize 
as  she  never  has  done.  She  must  proclaim 
as  part  of  her  mission  "the  redemption  of 
tlie  body,"  applying  the  teaching  of  Christ 
jto  bodily  healing  with  all  the  faithful- 
179    • 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

ness  and  thoroughness  that  Christian  Scien- 
tists apply  the  principles  of  Mrs.  Eddy. 
With  no  diminished  application  of  the 
rewards  of  the  life  to  come  she  must  seek 
to  restore  the  lost  balance  by  magnifying 
the  rewards  of  the  life  that  now  is.  Claim- 
ing her  right  to  all  the  rich  heritage  which 
belongs  to  the  children  of  God,  she  must 
look  to  the  whole  universe  as  open  to  her, 
to  possess,  to  use,  and  to  enjoy.  She 
must  dwell  more  than  she  ever  has  done 
upon  the  sunny  side  of  life  and  of  religion, 
putting  into  the  background  as  much  as 
possible  painful  and  depressing  things,  and 
following  the  admonition  of  Saint  Paul: 
"Whatsoever  things  are  true,  whatsoever 
things  are  honorable,  whatsoever  things  are 
just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatso- 
ever things  are  lovely,  whatsoever  things 
are  of  good  report;  if  there  be  any  virtue, 
and  if  there  be  any  praise,  think  on  these 
things"  (Phil.  4.  8).  She  must  also  in  this 
material  age  maintain  more  stoutly  the 
supremacy  of  spiritual  interests,  not  luring 
men  to  follow  Christ  for  the  loaves  and 
the  fishes,  but  for  the  less  tangible  but 
more  important  things  of  the  spirit,  and 
180 


AND  WHAT  WE  CAN  LEARN  FROM  IT 

being  as  ready  to  use  physical  forces  for 
spiritual  ends  as  Christian  Scientists  are  to 
use  spiritual  forces  for  physical  ends. 
Above  all,  she  must  make  more  prominent 
the  thought  of  the  present  activity  of 
Christ  as  the  Saviour  from  sin,  as  well  as 
from  sickness,  and  all  the  ills  that  spirit 
and  flesh  are  heir  to.  Sin  is  man's  great- 
est burden,  deliverance  from  it  his  greatest 
need;  and  the  church  that  does  most  to 
exalt  Christ's  present  power  to  bring  deliv- 
erance will  do  most  to  meet  the  deepest 
demands  of  the  future. 

Let  the  church  attend  to  her  supreme 
task  and  she  need  not  worry  about  the 
future  of  Christian  Science.  ''If  this  counsel 
or  this  work  be  of  men,  it  will  come  to 
naught:  but  if  it  be  of  God,  ye  cannot 
overthrow  it,  lest  haply  ye  be  found  even 
to  fight  against  God"  (Acts  5.  38,  39). 
Time  is  the  great  arbiter.  Many  defections 
from  the  faith  have  taken  place,  many 
sects  have  arisen,  and  have  passed  away, 
and  have  been  forgotten;  but  the  Church 
of  Christ,  founded  upon  confession  of  his 
name,  forever  remains.  It  is  his  body,  the 
organ  in  which  he  is  expressed,  the  agency 
181 


WHAT  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  MEANS 

by  which  he  works.  Recreant  to  its  duty 
it  has  often  been,  but  it  has  a  way  of  emerg- 
ing out  of  every  cloud,  "fair  as  the  moon, 
clear  as  the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an  army 
with  banners"  (Cant.  6.  10). 


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What  Christian  science  means  and  what  we 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


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